_Ji 



ELEMENTS 



OF 



ELOCUTION 



J. Nichols and Son, Parliament Street, 



ELEMENTS 

OF 

ELOCUTION: 

IN WHICH THE 

PRINCIPLES OF READING AND SPEAKING 

ARE INVESTIGATED; 

AND SUCH 

PAUSES, EMPHASIS, AND INFLEXIONS OF VOICE, AS ARE SUITABLE TO EVERY 
VARIETY OF SENTENCE, ARE DISTINCTLY POINTED OUT AND EXPLAINED ; 

WITH DIRECTIONS FOR 

STRENGTHENING AND MODULATING THE VOICE, 

SO AS TO RENDER IT VARIED, FORCIBLE, AND HARMONIOUS : 
TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF THE PASSIONS; 

SHOWING HOW THEY EFFECT THE 

COUNTENANCE, TONE OF VOICE, AND GESTURE OF THE BODY, 

EXEMPLIFIED 

by a copious Selection of the most striking Passages of 

SHAKSPEARE. 

THE WHOLE ILLUSTRATED BY COPPER-PLATES, EXPLAINING THE NATURE 
OF ACCENT, EMPHASIS, INFLEXION, AND CADENCE. 



THE SEVENTH EDITION. 



BY JOHN WALKER, 

AUTHOR OF THE CRITICAL PRONOUNCING DICTIONARY, &C. 



Est quodam prcdire tenus. — Hor. 



LONDON 




PRINTED FOR T. CADELL; LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND 
GREEN; BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY; BAYNES AND SON; SIMPKIN 
AND MARSHALL; G. B. WHITTAKER ; AND J. BAKER. 

1825. 



To 

DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON, 

IN 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE ASSISTANCE 

GAINED FROM HIS LABOURS, 

THE PLEASURE AND IMPROVEMENT 

DERIVED FROM HIS CONVERSATION, 
AND 

THE OBLIGATION 

CONFERRED BY HIS FRIENDSHIP AND ATTENTION, 

THE FOLLOWING TREATISE 

IS 

MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 
BY 



THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



jH AVING had the honour, a few years ago, to give 
public lectures on English Pronunciation at the Uni- 
sity of Oxford, I was some time afterwards invited 
by several of the Heads of Houses to give private 
lectures on the Art of Reading, in their respective 
Colleges. So flattering an invitation made me ex- 
tremely anxious to preserve the favourable impression 
I had made, and this put me upon throwing the 
instruction I had to convey into something that had 
the appearance of a system. Those only who are 
thoroughly acquainted with the subject, can con- 
ceive the labour and perplexity in which this task 
engaged me : it was not a florid harangue on the 
advantages of good reading that was expected from 
me, but some plain practical rules in a scholastic and 
methodical form, that would convey real and useful 
instruction. 



Vlll PREFACE. 

This led me to a distinction of the voice, which, 
though often mentioned by musicians, has been but 
little noticed by teachers of reading* ; which is that 
distinction of the voice into the upward and down- 
ward slide, into which all speaking sounds may be 

* In the first edition of this work, I expressed myself with a scru- 
pulous caution, respecting this distinction of voice $ because, in a 
grammar, written a century ago by Charles Butler, of Magdalen Col- 
lege, Oxford, I found & direction for reading the question beginning 
with the verb, not only in a higher tone, but with a different turn 
of the voice from the other question ; and in a grammar by Mr. 
Perry, of Scotland, about thirty years ago, I found the same dis- 
tinction of voice in the same case : and, except in these two authors, 
I never met with this distinction in reading till the last edition of 
Enfield's Speaker ; where, in Rule VII. of the Essay on Elocution, 
instead of the old direction, Acquire a just variety of Pause and Ca- 
dence, I found, Acquire a just variety of Pause and Inflexion; and 
though in the whole Rule there was not a single word about in- 
flexion of the voice, in the new one I found the inflexions of the 
voice divided into two kinds ; the one conveying the idea of conti- 
nuation, the other of completion : the former of which is called the 
suspending, the latter the closing pause :— though, in a few lines 
after, we find what is called the closing pause, is often applicable to 
members, when the sense, is suspended. In these new directions, 
too, I found the question distinguished into two kinds, and the sus- 
pending and the closing pause applied respectively to each. I could 
not help congratulating myself, that a doctrine I had published so 
many years before, began to be adopted by so judicious a writer as 
Mr. Enfield. But when I found it had not only been adopted, but 
acknowledged, by Mr. Murray, the author of the best Grammar and 
Selection of Lessons for reading in the English Language, I found 
myself fully compensated for the misfortune of not being noticed 
by the author of the Speaker. 



PREFACE. IX 

resolved : the moment I admitted this distinction, I 
found I had possession of the quality of the voice I 
wanted ; for thoLgh these slides or inflexions were 
indefinite as to their quantity or duration, they were 
still essentially distinct, and were never convertible 
into each other ; whereas all the other distinctions 
were relative ; and what was high and loud in one 
case, might be soft and low in another. Accordingly 
I found, upon pursuing this distinction, that, provided 
the proper slide was preserved on that word which 
the sense and harmony required, the other distinc- 
tions of the voice were more easily attained : and if 
they were not, the pronunciation was infinitely less 
injured, than if every other distinction of the voice 
had been preserved, and this single one neglected. 
Here then commenced my system ; infinite were the 
difficulties and obscurities that impeded my progress 
at first; but perseverance, and, perhaps, enthusiasm, 
at last brought it to a period. 

Without any breach of modesty, it may be asserted, 
that the general idea is new, curious, and important : 
and without any false humility, I am ready to allow, 
that the manner of treating it has too many faults 
and imperfections. Besides those incorrectnesses 
which are inseparable from the novelty and diffi- 
culty of the subject, it partakes of that haste, that 



X PREFACE. 

interruption, and want of finishing, which must ne- 
cessarily arise from a constant and laborious attend- 
ance on pupils ; for, though nothing but long prac- 
tice in actual teaching could have enabled me to 
construct such a system, it required the leisure and 
liberty of independence to produce it to the best 
advantage. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



SECOND EDITION. 



WHEN the first edition of this work was published, I con- 
sidered the human voice as divisible into two inflexions 
only. Some time after, upon re-considering the subject more 
maturely, I found there were certain turns of voice which 
I could not distinctly class with either of these two inflex- 
ions. This discovery mortified me exceedingly. I feared 
my whole labour was lost, and that I had been fatiguing 
myself with a distinction which existed no where but in my 
imagination. None but those who had been system-makers, 
can judge of the regret and disappointment which this ap- 
prehension occasioned. It did not, however, continue long. 
The same trial of the voice which assured me of the two 
opposite inflexions, the rising and falling, soon convinced 
me that those inflexions which I could not reduce to either 
of these two, were neither more nor less than two combina- 
tions of them i and that they were real circumflexes^ the one 
beginning with the rising inflexion, and ending with the 
falling upon the same syllable ; and the other beginning 
with the falling, and ending with the rising on the same 
syllable. This relieved me from my anxiety ; and I 
considered the discovery of so much importance, that 
I immediately published a small pamphlet, called The 
Melody of Speaking Delineated, in which I explained 
it as well as I was able by writing, but referred the 



Xll 

reader to, some passages where he could scarcely fail to 
adopt it upon certain words, and perceive the justness of 
the distinction. I was confirmed in my opinion by reflect- 
ing that a priori, and independently on actual practice, these 
modifications of the human voice must necessarily exist. 
First, if there was no turn or inflexion of the voice, it must 
continue in a monotone. Secondly, if the voice was in- 
flected, it must be either upwards or downwards, and so 
produce either the rising or falling inflexion, Thirdly, if 
these two were united on the same syllable, it could only 
be by beginning with the rising, and ending with the falling 
inflexion, or vice versa; as any other mixture of these op- 
posite inflexions was impossible. A thorough conviction 
of the truth of this distinction, gave me a confidence which 
nothing could shake. I exemplified it, viva voce, to many 
of my critical friends, who uniformly agreed with me : and 
this enabled me to conceive and demonstrate the Greek and 
Latin circumflex (so often mentioned, and so totally unin- 
telligible to the moderns), but occasioned not a little sur- 
prise (since it is as easy to conceive that the voice may fall 
and rise upon the same syllable, as that it may rise and 
fall) why the ancients had the latter circumflex, and not 
the former. Some probable conjectures respecting this 
point, as well as the nature of the accent, antient and mo- 
dern, may be seen at the end of a work lately published, 
called, A Key to the Classical Pronunciation of Greek and 
Latin proper Names. 



xm 



CONTENTS. 



FIRST PART. 

Page. 

Introduction, Elocution defined I 

General Idea of the common Doctrine of Punctuation 4 

Introduction to the Theory of Rhetorical' Punctuation 9 

Inconsistencies of the common Doctrine of Punctuation 10, 11, 12 

Theory of Rhetorical Punctuation 16 

Practical System of Rhetorical Punctuation 23 

Introduction to the Theory of the Inflexions of the Voice 53 

Method of explaining the Inflexions of the Voice 55 

Another Method of explaining the Inflexions of the Voice. ... 62 

Utility of the Inflexions of the Voice 72 

Practical System of the Inflexions of the Voice 75 

Pronunciation of a Compact Sentence < 76 

Inverted Period SI 

Pronunciation of a Loose Sentence 82 

the Antithetic Member 89 

the Penultimate Member : 90 

the Series 95 

the Simple Series 98 

the Compound Series 103 

the Series of Serieses. . 1 10 

the Final Pause, or Period 117 

the Interrogation 121 

the Exclamation 142 

the Parenthesis 147 



XIV 



SECOND PART. 

Page. 

Accent 16*0 

Accent defined and explained 164 

English, Scotch, and Irish Accent, how they differ 165 

Introduction to the Theory of Emphasis 166 

Theory of Emphatic Inflexion 179 

Practical System of Emphasis 190 

Single Emphasis 191 

Double Emphasis 200 

Treble Emphasis 202 

General Emphasis. . . . , 208 

Intermediate or Elliptical Member. . , 212 

Harmonic Inflexion • • .... 219 

Harmony of Prose 226 

Harmony of Prosaic Inflexion 231 

Rules for reading Verse 238 

Modulation and Management of the Voice 255 

Gesture 277 

The Passions , 283 

Tranquillity, Cheerfulness 293 

Mirth 294 

Raillery 295 

Sneer, Joy .' 296 

Delight 298 

Love 299 

Pity : 301 

Hope 303 

Hatred, Aversion 304 

Anger, Rage, Fury 306 

Revenge, Reproach 308 

Fear and Terror 310 

Sorrow . . . ; 312 

Remorse 316 



XV 

Page. 

Despair 317 

Surprise, Wonder, Amazement, Admiration 319 

Pride 321 

Confidence, Courage, Boasting 322 

Perplexity, Irresolution, Anxiety 324 

Vexation, Peevishness 326 

Envy and Malice. 327 

Suspicion, Jealousy 328 

Modesty, Submission 331 

Shame and Gravity 332 

Inquiry and Attention 333 

Teaching or Instructing 334 

Arguing , 335 

Admonition 336 

Authority and Commanding 33S 

Forbidding and Affirming 339 

Denying and Differing 340 

Agreeing and Judging 341 

Reproving 342 

Acquitting and Condemning 343 

Pardoning and Dismissing 344 

Refusing 345 

Giving, Granting 346 

Gratitude and Curiosity 347 

Promising and Veneration 348 

Respect, Desire, and Commendation 349 

Exhorting 350 

Complaining and Fatigue 351 

Sickness 352 



PREMONITION 



THE READER 



IT may not, perhaps, be improper to inform the 
reader, that if he wishes fully to understand the fol- 
lowing work, he must first apply himself closely to 
the acquiring of a just idea of the two radical distinc- 
tions of the voice into the rising and falling inflexion, 
as explained, Part I. p. 66 and 68 ; and Part II. 
p. 162. If, however, after all his labour, the author 
should not have been able to convey an idea of these 
two distinctions of voice upon paper, he flatters him- 
self, that those parts of the work, which do not depend 
upon these distinctions, are sufficiently new and useful 
to reward the time and pains of a perusal. 



INTRODUCTION. 



^LOCUTION, in the modern sense of the word, 
seems to signify that pronunciation which is given to 
words when they are arranged into sentences, and 
form discourse. 

Pronunciation, in its largest sense, may signify the 
utterance of words, either taken separately, or in 
connexion with each other; but the pronunciation 
of words, connected into a sentence, seems very pro- 

s perly specified by Elocution. 

Elocution, therefore, according to this definition 
of it, may have elements or principles distinct from 
those of pronunciation in its most limited sense ; 
and we may consider the elements of elocution, not 
as those principles which constitute the utterance of 
single words, but as those which form the just enun- 
ciation of words in dependence on each other for 
sense s at this point the present work commences. 
The delivery of words formed into sentences, and 
these sentences formed into discourse, is the object 
of it ; and as reading is a correct and beautiful pic- 
ture of speaking ; speaking, it is presumed, cannot 
be more successfully taught, than by referring us to 
such rules as instruct us in the art of reading. 

The art of reading is that system of rules which 
teaches us to pronounce written composition with 

justness, energy, variety, and ease. Ag reea hly to 
this definition, reading may be considered as that 
species of delivery, which not only expresses the 

B 



2 ELEMENTS OF 

sense of an author, so as barely to be understood ; 
but which, at the same time, gives it all that force, 
beauty, and variety, of which it is susceptible : the 
first of these considerations belongs to grammar, and 
the last to rhetoric. 

The sense of an author being the first object of 
reading, it will be necessary to inquire into those di- 
visions and subdivisions of a sentence which are em- 
ployed to fix and ascertain its meaning : this leads to 
a consideration of the doctrine of punctuation. 

Punctuation may be considered in two different 
lights : first, as it clears and preserves the sense of a 
sentence, by combining those words together which 
are united in sense, and separating those that are dis- 
tinct ; and secondly, as it directs to such pauses, 
elevations, and depressions of the voice, as not only 
mark the sense of the sentence more precisely, but 
give it a variety and beauty which recommend it to 
the ear ; for in speaking, as in other arts, the useful 
and the agreeable are almost always found to coin- 
cide ; and every real embellishment promotes and 
perfects the principal design. 

In order, therefore, to have as clear an idea of 
punctuation as possible, it will be necessary to con- 
sider it as related to grammar and rhetoric distinctly. 
It will not be easy to say any thing new on punctu- 
ation, as it relates to grammar ; but it will not be 
difficult to show, what perplexity it is involved in 
when reduced to enunciation ; and how necessary it 
is to understand distinctly the rhetorical as well as 
grammatical division of a sentence, if we would wish 
to arrive at precision and accuracy in reading and 
speaking : this will so evidently appear in the course 
of this essay, as to make it needless to insist farther 
on it here ; and^as the basis of rhetoric and oratory is 
grammar, it will be absolutely necessary to consider 
punctuation as it delates precisely to the sense, before 
it is viewed as it relates to the force, beauty, and 
harmony of language. 



ELOCUTION. 3 

But the business of this essay is not so much to 
construct a new system of punctuation as to endea- 
vour to make the best use of that which is already 
established ;. an attempt to reduce the whole doctrine 
of rhetorical punctuation to a few plain, simple prin- 
ples, which may enable the reader, in some mea- 
sure, to point for himself: for this purpose, it will, in 
the first place, be necessary to exhibit a general idea 
of the punctuation in use, that we may be better en- 
abled to see how far it will assist us in the practice of 
pronunciation, and where we must have recourse to 
principles more permanent and systematical. 



* 2 



4 ELEMENTS OF 



A general Idea of the common Doctrine of 
Punctuation. 

Some grammarians define punctuation to be the 
art of making in writing the several pauses, or rests, 
between sentences and the parts of sentences, accord- 
ing to their proper quantity or proportion, as they 
are expressed in a just and accurate pronunciation. 
Others, as Sir James Burrow and Dr. Bowles, besides 
considering the points as marks of rest and pauses, 
suppose them to be hints for a different modulation of 
voice, «or rules for regulating the accent of the voice 
in reading ; but whether this modulation of the voice 
relates to all the points, or to the interrogation, ex- 
clamation, and parenthesis only, we are not informed. 
Grammarians are pretty generally agreed in distin- 
guishing the pauses into 

The period "J 

The colon I marked thug 

1 he semicolon f 

The comma j 
and those pauses, which are accompanied with an 
alteration in the tone of the voice, into 

The interrogation "} C ? 

The exclamation > marked thus < ! 

The parenthesis J L () 

The period is supposed to be a pause double the time 
of the colon ; the colon, double the semicolon ; and 
the semicolon, double that of the comma, or smallest 
pause : the interrogation and exclamation points are 
said to be indefinite as to their quantity of time, and 
to mark an elevation of voice ; and the parenthesis, 
to mark a moderate depression of the voice, with a 
pause greater than a comma. 

A simple sentence, that is, a sentence having but 
one subject, or nominative, and one finite verb, ad- 
mits of no pause. Thus in the following sentence : 



ELOCUTION. 5 

The passion for praise produces excellent effects in 
women of sense. The passion for praise is the subject, 
or nominative case to the verb produces; and excellent 
effects in women of sense, is the object or accusative 
case, with its concomitant circumstances or adjuncts 
of specification, as Dr. Lowth very properly terms 
them, " and this sentence," says the learned bishop, 
" admits of no paiise between any of its parts ; but 
when a new verb is added to the sentence, as in the 
following: The passion for praise, which is so very 
vehement in the fair sex, produces excellent effects 
in women of sense. Here a new verb is introduced, 
accompanied with adjuncts of its own, and the sub- 
ject is repeated by the relative pronoun which : it 
now becomes a compounded sentence, made up of 
two simple sentences, one of which is inserted in the 
middle of the other ; it must, therefore, be distin- 
guished into its component parts by a point placed 
on each side of the additional sentence. 

In every sentence, therefore, as many subjects, or 
as many finite verbs, as there are, either expressed or 
implied, so many distinctions there may be : as, My 
hopes, fears, joys, pains, all centre in you. The case 
is the same when several adjuncts affect the subject of 
the verb : as, A good, wise, learned man is an orna- 
ment to the commonwealth ; or, when several adverbs, 
or adverbial circumstances, affect the verb : as, He 
behaved himself modestly, prudently, virtuously. For 
as many such adjuncts as there are, so many several 
members does the sentence contain ; and these are to 
be distinguished from each other, as much as several 
subjects or finite verbs. The reason of this is, that as 
many subjects, finite verbs, or adjuncts as there are 
in a sentence, so many distinct sentences are actually 
implied ; as the first example is equivalent to, My 
hopes all centre in you, my fears all centre in you, 
&c. The second example is equivalent to, A good 
man is an ornament to the commonwealth , a wise man 
is an ornament to the commonwealth, Sec. The third 



6 ELEMENTS OF 

example is equivalent to, He hehaved himself modestly, 
he behaved himself prudently, &c. ; and these implied 
sentences are all to be distinguished by a comma. 

The exception to this rule is, where thesesubjects or 
adjuncts are united by a conjunction : as The imagi- 
nation and the judgment do not always agree ; and 
A man never becomes learned without studying con- 
stantly and methodically. In these cases the commas 
between the subjects and adjuncts are omitted. 

There are some other kinds of sentences, which, 
though seemingly simple, are nevertheless of the com- 
pound kind, and really contain several subjects, verbs, 
or adjuncts. Thus in the sentences containing what 
is called the ablative absolute : as Physicians, the 
disease once discovered, think the cure ha If wrought ; 
where the words disease once discovered, are equiva- 
lent to, when the cause of disease is discovered. — So 
in those sentences where nouns are added by apposi- 
tion : as, The Scots, a hardy people, endured it all. 
So also in those where the vocative cases occur : as, 
This my friend you must allow me. The first of these 
examples is equivalent to, The Scots endured it all, 
and The Scots, who are a hardy people, endured it 
all : and the last to, This you must allow me, and this 
my friend must allow me. 

When a sentence can be divided into two or more 
members, which members are again divisible into 
members more simple, the former are to be separated 
by a semicolon. 



EXAMPLE. 

But as this passion for admiration, when it works according to 
reason, improves the beautiful part of our species in every thing 
that is laudable j so nothing is more destructive to them, when it 
is governed by vanity and folly. 



When a sentence can be divided into two parts, 
each of which parts are again divisible by semicolons, 
the former are to be separated by a colon. 



ELOCUTION. 7 

EXAMPLES. 

As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial-plate, so 
the advances we make in knowledge are only perceived by the dis- 
tance gone over. 

Here the two members, being both simple, are only 
separated by a comma. 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not perceive 
it moving -, so our advances in learning, as they consist of such 
minute steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 

Here the sentence being divided into two equal 
parts, and those compounded, since they include 
others, we separate the former by a semicolon, and 
the latter by commas. 

As we perceived the shadow to have moved along the dial, but did 
not perceive it moving j and it appears that the grass has grown, 
though nobody ever saw it grow 1 so the advances we make in 
knowledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are only perceiv- 
able by the distance. 

Here the advancement in knowledge is compared 
to the motion of a shadow, and the growth of grass : 
which comparison divides the sentences into two prin- 
cipal parts : but since what is said of the movement 
of the shadow, and of the growth of grass, likewise 
contains two simple members, they are to be separated 
by a semicolon : consequently, a higher pointing is 
required, to separate them from the other part of the 
sentence, which they are opposed to : and this is a 
colon. 

When a member of a sentence forms complete 
sense, and does not excite expectation of what fol- 
lows ; though it consist but of a simple member, it' 
may be marked with a colon. 

EXAMPLES. 

The discourse consisted of two parts : in the first was shewn the 
necessity of fighting j in the second, the advantages that would 
arise from it. 

The Augustan age was so eminent for good poets, that they have 
served as models to all others: yet it did not produce any good 
tragic poets. 



& ELEMENTS OF 

When a sentence is so far perfectly finished, as not 
to be connected in construction with the following 
sentence, it is marked with a period. 

This is the most concise and comprehensive view 
I could possibly collect from the several authors who 
have written on this subject. But it may be observed, 
that these rules, though sufficient to prevent confusion 
in writing, are very inadequate to the purposes of just 
and accurate pronouncing ; as it is certain that a just, 
a forcible, and easy pronunciation, will oblige a judi- 
cious reader to pause much more frequently, than the 
most correct and accurate writers or printers give him 
leave : but I must again observe, that when I contend 
for the propriety, and even necessity, of pausing, 
where we find no points in writing or printing, I do 
not mean to disturb the present practice of punctua- 
tion : I wish only to afford such aids to pronuncia- 
tion as are actually made use of by the best readers 
and speakers, and such as we must use in reading 
and speaking in public, if we would wish to pronounce 
with justness, energy, and ease. 



ELOCUTION. 9 



An Introduction to the Theory of Rhetorical 
Punctuation. 

Dr. Lowth has, with great plainness and precision, 
drawn the line which bounds the use of the comma 
upon paper, by telling us, that every simple sentence, 
or that sentence which has but one subject and one 
finite verb, cannot have any of its adjuncts, or imper- 
fect phrases, separated by a point. This he illustrates 
by a sentence, where the subject and the verb are 
accompanied by as many adjuncts as they commonly 
are, but no provision is made for such phrases as ex- 
tend to twice the length, and yet continue perfectly 
simple. — The passion for praise produces excellent 
effects in women of sense, — is a sentence of so mode- 
rate a size, as may be pronounced even with solemnity 
and energy, by most people, without once taking 
breath ; but if we amplify these adjuncts that accom- 
pany the nominative case and the verb in such a 
manner as is frequently to be met with, at least in 
incorrect composition, we shall find it impossible to 
pronounce the sentence with force and ease, without 
some interval for respiration ; — for instance, if we 
had the following sentence to read — A violent passion 
for universal admiration produces the most ridiculous 
circumstances in the general behaviour of women of 
the most excellent understandings. — If, I say, we 
had this sentence to read, how could we possibly pro- 
nounce it with force and ease, without once fetching 
breath ? — and yet, according to the strictest laws of 
grammar, no pause is to be admitted ; for this latter 
sentence, though almost three times as long, is as 
perfectly simple as the former. 

The necessity of taking breath, in some of these 
longer simple sentences, has obliged the most accurate 
and metaphysical inquirers into punctuation to admit 
of the most vague and indeterminate rules. — The 



10 ELEMENTS OF 

most subtle among the French writers* on this sub- 
ject, after giving a thousand fine-spun reasons for 
placing the points with justness and precision, admits 
of placing a comma in a simple sentence — " Quand 
" les prepositions sont trop longues pour itre dnoncees 
" de suite avec aisance." And one of our best Eng- 
lish critics tells us, that the difference between the 
colon and semicolon has a dependance on some- 
thing that influences all the points, and sways the 
whole doctrine of punctuation, which is, the length 
and shortness of the members and periods ; for when 
the phrases are long, he says, we point higher than 
when they are short. 

This confession is a sure proof, that the rules of 
these grammarians did not reach all cases ; and that, 
in speaking, they often found themselves obliged to 
pause where they did not dare to insert a pause in 
writing, for fear of breaking the grammatical con- 
nexion of the words : a fear, as will be seen hereafter, 
which arose from a superficial knowledge of the prin- 
ciples of rhetorical pronunciation. 

But as a proof that the shortest sentences are not 
always to be pronounced so as to preserve a perfect 
equality of time between every word, and conse- 
quently that some words admit of longer intervals 
than others; we need only pronounce a short simple 
sentence in the different ways we did the long one. 

Thus if w r e say — The passion for praise, produces 
excellent effects, in women of sense. — Here, I say, if 
we make a short pause at praise, and effects, we do 
not perceive the least impropriety ; but if we repeat 
the same sentence, and make the same pauses at pro- 
duces, and in, we shall soon discover an essential 
difference. — For example : The passion for praise 
produces, excellent effects in, women of' sense. — Here, 
by using the same pause between different words, the 
sense is materially affected ; which evidently shows 
how necessary it is to good reading and speaking, to 
* Beauzee Grammaire Generate, 



ELOCUTION. 1 1 

pause only between such words as admit of being 
separated ; and that it is not so much the number as 
the position of the pauses that affects the sense of a 
sentence. 

And here a question naturally arises, since it is of 
so much consequence to the sense of a sentence where 
we admit a pause, what are the parts of speech which 
allow a pause between them, and what are those 
which do not ? To which it may be answered, that 
the comma, or, what is equivalent to it in reading, 
a short pause, may be so frequently admitted between 
words in a grammatical connexion, that it will be 
much easier to say where it cannot intervene, than 
where it can. — The only words which seem too inti- 
mately connected to admit a pause, are — the article 
and the substantive, the substantive and the adjective 
in their natural order, and the preposition and the 
noun it governs ; every other combination of words, 
when forming simple sentences of considerable length, 
seems divisible if occasion require. That a substan- 
tive in the nominative case may be separated from the 
verb it governs, will be readily admitted, if we con- 
sider with how many adjuncts, or modifying words, it 
may be connected ; and, consequently, how difficult 
it will be tp carry the voice on to the verb with force, 
and to continue this force till the objective case with 
all its adjuncts and concomitants are pronounced : 
this will appear evidently from the amplified sentence 
already produced ; which, though not a very com- 
mon, is a very possible example ; and rules founded 
on the reason of a thing, must either suit all cases or 
none. 

Whatever, therefore, may be the integrity of gram- 
matical connexion to the eye, certain it is that the 
ear perceives neither obstruction nor obscurity in a 
pause between the nominative case and the verb, 
when the nominative is composed of such words 
as are less separable. Nay, we find the substantive 
verb, by the most scrupulous grammarians, constantly 



12 ELEMENTS OF 

separated from its preceding noun by a comma, when- 
ever the noun is joined to any considerable number 
of less separable words. 

EXAMPLES. 

One great use of prepositions in English, is to express those rela- 
tions, which, in some languages, are chiefly marked by cases. 

Dr. Lowth"s Grammar. 

A colon, or member, is a chief constructive part, or greater divi- 
sion of a sentence. Ibid. 

The very notion of any duration's being past, implies that it was 
once present ; for the idea of being once present, is actually included 
in the idea of its being past. Spectator, No. 590. 

This punctuation of the substantive verb runs 
through our whole typography, and sufficiently shows 
the division which the ear invariably makes, when 
delivery requires a distinct and forcible pronuncia- 
tion ; for not the smallest reason can be given, that 
this verb should be separated from its noun, that will 
not be equally applicable to every other verb in the 
language. s 

The general reluctance, however, at admitting a 
pause to the eye, between the nominative case and 
the verb, is not without a foundation in reason. The 
pauses of distinction between the parts of a complex 
nominative case, seem specifically different from the 
pause between the nominative case and the verb ; 
that the same pause, therefore, to the eye should be 
used between both, seems repugnant to a feeling of 
the different kind of connexion that subsists between 
parts which are but occasionally united, and those 
which are necessarily united ; thus in the following 
sentence : Riches, pleasure and health, become evils 
to the generality of mankind. 

There are few readers who would not make a 
longer pause between the nominative health and the 
verb become, than between inches and pleasure, or 
pleasure and health ; and yet there are few writers, or 
printers, who would not insert a pause after the first 
two words, and omit it after the third. This general 



ELOCUTION. 13 

practice can arise from nothing but the perception 
of the difference there is between those parts that 
compose the nominative plural, and those parts which 
compose the nominative and the verb ; and rather 
than confound this difference, we choose to omit the 
pause in writing, though we use it in speaking : till, 
therefore, we have a point, which, like one of the He- 
brew points, at the same time that it marks a distinc- 
tion between parts, marks a necessary connexion be- 
tween them also, we must be contented to let this 
useful and distinguishing pause in reading and speak- 
ing go unmarked in writing and printing. 

If we inquire into the difference between the parts 
of the nominative, and the nominative itself as part 
of the sentence, we shall find that the former are only 
parts of a part, and that the latter is a part of a whole ; 
or, in other words, the former are parts of a superior 
part, and the latter is the superior part itself; which 
part, as it consists of several parts, must, in order to 
show that these parts form only one part, be termi- 
nated by a pause, longer than what is given to the 
parts of which it is composed ; but as such a pause 
can be only marked by a semicolon, and as a semi- 
colon is often a mark of disjunction, it would be highly 
improper to place it between words so intimately con- 
nected as the nominative and the verb ; for as these 
words, except sometimes on account of emphasis, 
admit of no separation by a pause, when the nomi- 
native does not consist of parts, so, unless we had a 
pause, which would show this union of each part 
with the other, without a disunion of the whole num- 
ber of parts from what follows, we had better, perhaps, 
let this chasm in punctuation stand unfilled. Where 
the parts are evidently distinct, as in sentences con- 
structed on conjunctions, however short the parts 
may be, there seems no impropriety in placing a 
long pause : thus in the proverbial sentence, As the 
day lengthens the cold strengthens : we may place a 
comma, and even a semicolon, at lengthens, without 



14 ELEMENTS OF 

appearing to injure the sense \ bat if we were to 
place the same points between the nominative and 
the verb in the following sentence, The lengthening 
day is followed by the strengthening cold ; we should 
feel an impropriety at placing even a comma at day, 
though we should not perceive the least at actually 
pausing as long between the parts of this, as between 
those of the former sentence. The only method, 
therefore, of marking this necessary pause to the ear, 
without hurting the connexion between these parts of 
a sentence to the eye, would be to adopt the hyphen ; 
this always shows a necessary connexion of sense, 
and at the same time a clear distinction of parts dif- 
ferent from the distinction and connexion exhibited 
by the comma ; and this seems the point wanting 
to render our punctuation much more definite and 
complete. 

A want of this distinctive, and at the same time 
connective mark, has made many writers, particu- 
larly those who have expressed themselves with more 
than common delicacy and precision, adopt a dash 
between parts intimately connected, to show the 
sense is to be continued, and the pause lengthened at 
the same time. Sterne is the most remarkable for 
the use of this dash : and it must be owmed that in 
him it often conveys infinite meaning : but where 
used too often, as in those swarms of modern writers 
of novels, who affect to write like Sterne ; or where 
used improperly, and when the common points would 
give more precision to the sense, as we sometimes find 
even in Sterne himself ; in this case, I say, it may be 
reckoned among one of the greatest abuses of modern 
orthography. 

Sterne's dashing may be called a species of rhetori- 
cal punctuation, but the dash may and ought to be 
used grammatically, when there is such an order of 
the words as to induce the reader to run the sense of 
one member into another, from which it ought to be 
separated. 



ELOCUTION. 15 

EXAMPLE. 

After the Prince of Orange had got possession of the government 
of England— Scotland and Ireland remained still to be settled. 

Macphersoris History of England. 

The punctuation of the eye, and that of the ear, 
being thus at variance, and the latter being the prin- 
cipal object of this essay, it may not be useless to 
attempt to give a general idea of the principles of that 
punctuation which really exists in correct and elegant 
speaking, but which has hitherto been left entirely 
to the taste and judgment of the reader. 



16 ELEMENTS OF 



Theory of Rhetorical Punctuation, 

It may be observed, that pausing is regulated by 
two circumstances; one is, conveying ideas distinctly, 
by separating such as are distinct, and uniting such 
as are associated ; the other is, forming the words 
that convey these ideas into such classes, or portions, 
as may be forcibly and easily pronounced ; for this 
reason, when the words, from their signification, re- 
quire to be distinctly pointed out, that is, to convey 
objects distinguished from each other, however fre- 
quent and numerous the pauses may be, they are 
necessary ; but if words connected in sense continue 
to a greater extent than can be easily pronounced 
together, and at the same time have no such distinct 
parts as immediately suggest where we ought to pause, 
the only rule that can be given is, not to separate 
such words as are more united than those that we 
do not separate. 

But it may be demanded, how shall we know the 
several degrees of union between words so as to 
enable us to divide them properly ? To this it may 
be answered, that all words may be distinguished 
into those that modify, and those that are modified :* 
the words that are modified are the nominative, and 
the verb it governs ; every other word may be said 
to be a modifier of these words : the noun and verb 
being thus distinguished from every other, may be 
one reason, that, when modified, they so readily 
admit a pause between them ; because words that 
are separately modified may be presumed to be more 
separable from each other than the words that modify 
and the words modified. The modifying words are 
themselves modified by other words, and thus be- 
come divisible into superior and subordinate classes, 

* Buffier Grammaire, p. 60. 






ELOCUTION. 17 

each class beingcomposedof wordsmore united among 
themselves than the several classes are with each other. 
Thus in the sentence, The passion for praise produces 
excellent effects in women of sense — the noun passion, 
and the verb produces, with their several adjuncts* 
form the two principal portions, or classes, of words in 
this sentence ; and between these classes a pause is 
more readily admitted than between any other words: 
if the latter class may be thought too long to be pro- 
nounced without a pause, we may more easily place 
one at effects than between any other words ; because 
though produces is modified by every one of the suc- 
ceeding words, taken all together, yet it is more im- 
mediately modified by excellent effects, as this portion 
is also modified by in women of sense; all the words of 
which phrase are more immediately modified by the 
succeeding words than the preceding phrase, produces 
excellent effects, is by them. 

But what, it may be said, is the principle of unity, 
among these classes ; and by what marks are we to 
judge that words belong rather to one class than to 
another ? To this it may be answered, that the mo- 
difying and the modified words form the first or larger 
classes ; and the words that modify these modifying 
words, and the modifying words themselves, which 
are necessarily more united with each other than with 
those they modify, form the smaller classes of words. 
Upon these principles we may divide the sentence last 
quoted; and upon the same principles we may ac- 
count for the division of the following.— A violent and 
ungovernable passion for praise the most universal 
and unlimited, produces often the most ridiculous 
consequences in women of the most exalted under- 
standings,— When I say, a violent and ungovernable 
passion, I may pause at violent to distinguish it from 
ungovernable^ but not at ungovernable, because it im- 
mediately modifies passfori; but when I say, for praise, 
the most universal and unlimited, I must pause at 
passion, to show the greater connexion between the 

c 



18 ELEMENTS OF 

words praise and universal and unlimited than be- 
tween these and passion; the latter class thus secured, 
by a pause, from mixing with the former, it is subject 
to such division as its structure requires: the substan- 
tive praise, coming before the modifying words, is 
separated from them by a pause, not because such a 
pause is necessary the better to understand the con- 
nexion between them ; for had the modifying word 
been single, it would nut have admitted a pause : but 
because the two modifying words, universal and unli* 
mi ted, form a class by themselves, sufficiently united 
to the word praise to detach it from passion , and suf- 
ficiently distinct from it to be separated by a comma, 
But it may be asked, why does not the same classifi- 
cation take place in the former part of this sentence, 
with respect to the two adjectives, violent and ungo- 
vernable, and the substantive passion ? It may be an- 
swered, that a pause of distinction is admitted at 
violent ; but if we were to pause at ungovernable, the 
two modifying words would seem to form a class, 
before the word modified by them is expressed or 
understood ; whereas, in the succeeding part of the 
sentence, the word praise is understood, and the mo- 
difying words, universal and unlimited^ are necessa- 
rily referred to it. 

If it be demanded, why, in the former sentence, A 
violent and ungovernable passion for praise produces, 
&c. we cannot pause both at passsion and praise ? 
it may be answered, that as the words for praise 
modify passion, they have the nature of an adjective, 
and therefore should coalesce with the word passion^ 
which they modify; unless another word, more united 
to them than they are to passion, could be added, 
to make them form a distinct class; for, in this 
case they would be as easily separable as two adjec- 
tives after a substantive. Thus in the phrase, Avio- 
lent and ungovernable passion for praise and adula- 
tion, &c. : here we find praise and adulation form a 
class of words sufficiently united to be pronounced 



ELOCUTION. 19 

separately from passioMi if either the necessity of 
taking breath, or a distinctness of pronunciation, re- 
quire it ; for as pausing ought to answer one of these 
purposes, where neither of them are answered, the 
pause must be improper. Thus in the following sen- 
tence : A violent and ungovernable passion fur praise 
produces, &c. if we pause at passion, and then at 
praise, we shall pause without any necessity ; for as 
we must pause at praise, and the words for praise 
being neither associated with, nor distinguished from, 
any succeeding words, they ought to be united with 
those that precede, as both of them form a member 
sufficiently short to be pronounced with ease ; but if 
distinctness had made it necessary to pause at praise, 
then, notwithstanding the shortness of the phrase, it 
would have formed a distinct member, and have rea- 
dily admitted a pause. Thus in the sentence, A violent 
and ungovernable passion, for praise, rather than 
improvement in virtue, produces often the most ri- 
diculous circumstances, &c. : here the word praise, 
being emphatically distinguished from improvement 
in virtue, demands a pause after it ; and as this word, 
and its opposite, form a class, more united together 
than both are with the word passion, a pause is ne- 
cessary to show they belong to distinct classes ; the 
pause between the opposing words showing their dis- 
tinction, and the pause before and after them showing 
their union. 

But it may be asked, how can we suppose words 
opposed to each other, and requiring a pause to show 
that opposition, can be more united with each other 
than they are with the preceding words they modify? 
It may be answered, that the modifying word, when 
unaccompanied by adjuncts, and the word modified, 
form but one class, and do not admit of a pause, 
either when the modifying word precedes or succeeds 
the word modified.— Thus in the phrases, It was 
from a prepense malice that he committed the ac- 
tion ; and, It was from a malice prepense _thaf. he 

c2 



20 ELEMENTS OF 

committed the action: In these phrases I say, the 
substantive malice, and the adjective prepense, are 
equally inseparable by a pause ; but in the following 
phrases : 

It was from a preconceived and prepense malice that 
he committed the action; and It teas from a malice, 
preconceived, and prepense, that he committed the ac- 
tion. In the former of these phrases the modifying 
words do not form a distinct class from the word mo- 
dified ; anil in the latter they do, and, therefore, admit 
of a pause after the word malice, which can arise from 
nothing else but this: in one case, the modifying 
words, preceding the word modified, can signify 
nothing without being joined to it ; and in the other, 
the modified word, preceding those that modify, does 
signify something independent on them ; and this in- 
dependent signification admits those words that equally 
depend on it, to form a distinct, though not an inde- 
pendent class, by permitting a pause. Hence arises this 
general rule — The word modified, and the words mo- 
difying^ form hut one class with relation to the rest 
of the words of the sentence ; but if the modifying 
words precede the wofd modified, the modifying words 
are distinguished from each other by a pause, but not 
from the word modified ; and if the modifying words 
succeed the ivord. modified, they are not only distin- 
guished from each other, but from the word which they 
modify; that is, they form distinct classes respecting 
each other, and one whole class respecting the rest of 
the words in the sentence. 

Thus have we endeavoured to trace out the reason 
for pausing differently ..in phrases differently con- 
structed, though perfectly similar in meaning. In 
this inquiry, the ingenious researches of Lord Kaims 
upon this subject have been of great use. His idea 
of the connexion between the adjective and the sub- 
stantive in their natural order, and the separation 
they admit of when inverted, is the principal clue 
to the difficulties that have been proposed : his as- 



ELOCUTION. ^1 

sertion, however, that the adjective and substan- 
tive in an inverted order admit of a pause, is true 
only when the adjective is single ; for thousands of 
instances might be produced, where a pause is no 
more admissible between a substantive and an ad- 
jective in their inverted than in their natural order. 
For example, in the following lines from the Rape of 
the Lock : 

Of these the chief the care of natrons own, 
And guard vvitlvarms divine the British throne. 

Though the melody of the verse inclines us strongly 
to pause at arms, yet the adjective divine, imme- 
diately succeeding, forbids it. Nay, if the line Lord 
Kaims produces to prove we may pause between 
the adjective and the substantive in an inverted 
order — 

For thee the fates, severely kind, ordain — 

If this line, I say, had been constructed in this 
manner, 

For thee the fates severe, have this ordained, 

it is evident no pause could be admitted between the 
substantive fates and the adjective severe, though 
they are here in their inverted order ; it is not then 
merely the adjective being placed after the substan- 
tive which makes it separable from it, but the ad- 
jective being joined by other words, which, when 
the substantive is understood, are more immediately 
connected with each other than with the substantive 
itself. • 

If these observations have any solidity, we may 
perceive how few are the grammatical connexions 
which absolutely refuse a suspension of pronunciation, 
for the sake of breathing, where precision or energy 
require it : it is certainly to be presumed, that the 
breath of every person is nearly proportioned to the 
forcible pronunciation of so many words together as 
are necessary to preserve the sense unbroken ; the 
contrary, however, would often be the case, if the 



%2 ELEMENTS OF 

integrity of the sense depended on the common rules 
for placing the comma. Let those, however, who 
can pronounce a long sentence easily and forcibly, 
provided they preserve the pauses necessary to the 
sense, take breath as seldom as they please. I have 
rather consulted the infirmities than the perfections 
of my fellow creatures ; by endeavouring to point 
out those resources which are necessary to the weak, 
without imposing them as rules upon the strong ; — 
Clausulas e?iim, says Cicero, atque interpuncta ver- 
borum animce inter cliisio atque angustke spiriMs ad- 
tulerunt. De Orat. Lib. iii. 

But from studying the human voice, and not re- 
lying implicitly on the assertions of the ancients, we 
perceive the weakness of that common observation, 
that long sentences require a greater quantity of 
breath, and a much more forcible exertion in the 
lungs, than such sentences as are short. The folly 
of this opinion must evidently appear to those who 
have taken notice how often we may pause in a long 
sentence ; and it will be shown hereafter, that the 
sense of a sentence depends much less on the pause 
than on the inflexion of voice we adopt ; and that, 
provided we pause in the proper place, and preserve 
the proper tone and inflexion of the voice, the sense 
runs no risk on account of the multiplicity or dura- 
tion of the pauses. 

To reduce what has been said into something like 
a system, we shall endeavour to bring together sen- 
tences in every variety of construction, and mark, as 
carefully as possible, such pauses as are necessary to 
pronounce them with clearness, force, and variety. 



ELOCUTION. 23 



A Practical System of Rhetorical Punctuation. 

Before we give such directions for pausing, 6v 
dividing a sentence, as will, in some measure, enable 
us to avoid the errors of common punctuation, and to 
point for ourselves, it will be necessary to inquire into 
the nature of a sentence, and to distinguish it into its 
different kinds : for this purpose, I shall make use of 
the words of a very ingenious author,* who has lately 
written on the Philosophy of Rhetoric : ' Complex 
' sentences,' says this author, c are of two kinds ; first, 
c they are either periods, or sentences of a looser com- 
* position, for which the language doth not furnish us 
-f with a particular name. 

' A period is a complex sentence, wherein the mean- 
' ing remains suspended, till the whole is finished : 
6 the connexion, consequently, is so close between 
' the beginning and the end, as to give rise to the 
6 name period, which signifies circuit ; the following 
6 is such a sentence :' 

" Corruption could not spread with so much sue- 
" cess, though reduced into system, and though some 
" ministers, with equal impudence and folly, avowed 
"it, by themselves and their advocates, to be the 
" principal expedient by which they governed, if a 
<f long and almost unobserved progression of causes 
" and effects did not prepare the conjecture." 

Bolingbrokes Spirit of Patriotism. 

* The criterion of a period is this : If you stop any 
f where before the end, the preceding words will not 
c form a sentence, and therefore cannot convey any 
4 determined sense. 

' This is plainly the case with the above example : 
< the first verb being could, and not can ; the poten- 

* .Campbell's. Philos. of Rhetoric, vol. ii. p. 339. 



24 ELEMENTS OF 

4 tial, and not the indicative mood, shows, that the 
c sentence is hypothetical, and requires to its com- 
4 pletion, some clause beginning with if, unless, or 
4 some other conditional particle ; and after you are 

* come to the conjunction, you find no part where 
c you can stop before the end. An example of a com- 
1 plex sentence that is not a period, I shall produce 
c from the same performance:' 

" One party had given their whole attention, dur- 
" ing several years, to the project of enrich in them- 
" selves, and impoverishing the rest, of the nation ; 
44 and by these and other means, of establishing their 
44 dominion under the government, and with the fa- 
" vour of a family who were foreigners ; and there- 
44 fore might believe that they were established on the 
44 throne, by the good will and strength of this party* 
44 alone." 

4 The criterion of such loose sentences is as follows: 
4 there will always be found in them one place at least 
4 before the end, at which if you make a stop, the 

* construction of the preceding part will render it a 
4 complete sentence ; thus, in the example now given, 
4 whether you stop at the word themselves, at nation; 
4 at dominion, at government, or at foreigners, all 
4 which words are marked in the quotation in Italics, 

* you will find you have read a perfect sentence.' 

This distinction of a sentence into a period or com- 
pact sentence, and a loose sentence, does not seem to 
satisfy this ingenious critic ; and he produces an ex- 
ample of a sentence of an intermediate sort, that is 
neither an entirely loose sentence, nor a perfect 
period : this example, too, is taken from Lord Boling- 
brok a, where, speaking of the Eucharist, he says: 
" The other institution has been so disguised by or- 
t; nament, and so much directed in your church, at 
4< least to a different purpose from commemoration, 
44 that if the disciples were to assemble at Easter in 
' k the chapel of his holiness, Peter would know his 
14 successor as little as Christ would acknowledge his 



ELOCUTION, 25 

" vicar ; and the rest would be unable to guess what 
" the ceremony represented or intended." Though 
this sentence forms perfect sense at vicar, the critic 
affirms, that * the succeeding members are so closely 
4 connected with the preceding, that they altogether 
* may be considered as a period, or compact sentence.' 

Here we find the former distinction destroyed, and 
we are again to seek for such a definition of a sentence 
as will assure us what is a period or compact sentence, 
and what is a loose sentence ; or, in other words, what 
members are necessarily, and what are not necessarily 
connected. In the first place we may observe, that 
it is not the perfect sense, formed by the preceding 
members, that determines a sentence to be loose : be- 
cause succeeding members may be so necessarily con- 
nected with those that precede, notwithstanding the 
preceding members form perfect sense, that both to- 
gether may form one period, Mr. Addison affords 
us an instance of this in the Spectator, No.86: " Every 
" one that speaks and reasons, is a grammarian and a 
" logician, though he may be utterly unacquainted 
" with the rules of grammar or logic as they are de- 
" livered in books and systems." 

If we finish this sentence at logician, we shall find 
the sense perfect ; and yet nothing can be more evi- 
dent than that both the member which contains this 
word, and that which follows, are inseparably con- 
nected. It is not, therefore, the perfect sense "which 
a member may form, that necessarily detaches it from 
the rest ; if, upon perusing the latter part of the sen- 
tence, we find it evidently contained in the idea of 
the former, they must both be inseparably connected : 
the whole sentence, therefore, must be understood 
before we can pronounce upon the connexion consist- 
ing between its parts. 

But it may be demanded, what is the criterion of 
this connexion ; and how shall we know, with cer- 
tainty, whether the idea of the latter member is neces- 
sarily contained in the former ? To this it may be an- 



26 ELEMENTS OF 

swered, if the latter member modifies the former, or 
places it in a point of view different from what it ap- 
pears in alone, we may pronounce the members ne- 
cessarily connected, and the sentence to be compact 
and periodic. In the last instance, the first member, 
Every one that speaks and reasons, is a grammarian 
and a logician, does not intend to affirm a fact which 
might be understood as descriptive of the state of 
man, either with or without the attainments of gram^ 
mar and logic ; but it refers precisely to that state 
which has no such attainments, and thus is modified 
by the last member, though he may be utterly unac- 
quainted with the rules of grammar, or logic, as they 
are delivered in books and systems. The modification, 
therefore, of the former member by the latter, is the 
criterion of such connexion as forms a period or com- 
pact sentence. 

It is on this principle that all sentences founded 
on an hypothesis, a condition, a concession, or ex- 
ception, may be esteemed compact sentences or pe- 
riods ; for in these sentences we shall find one part of 
the sentence modified by the other ; and it may be 
affirmed of all other sentences, that whenever the con- 
junctions that connect their members together modify 
these members, the sentences they compose are pe- 
riodic; and that whenever the conjunctions only 
explain or add to the meaning of the members to 
which they are subjoined, the sentences which these 
members compose are loose sentences. It will be 
necessary to explain this observation by examples. 

EXAMPLES. 

A man should endeavour to make the sphere of his innoeent 
pleasures as wide as possible, that he may retire into them with 
safety, and find in them such a satisfaction as a wise man would not 
blush to take. Of this nature are those of the imagination, wliich do 
not require such a bent of thought as is necessary to our more se- 
rious employments, nor at the same time suffer the mind to sink into 
that negligence and remissness, which are apt to accompany our 
more sensual delights. — Spectator, No. 411. 



ELOCUTION. 8t 

In the first of these sentences we find the conjunc- 
tion that modifies or restrains the meaning of the pre- 
ceding member ; for it is not asserted in general, and 
without limitation, that a man should make the sphere 
of his innocent pleasures as wide as possible, but that 
he should do so for the purpose of retiring into him- 
self: these two members, therefore, are necessarily 
connected, and might have formed a period or com- 
pact sentence, had they not been followed by the 
last member ; but as that only adds to the sense of 
the preceding members, and does not qualify them, 
the whole assemblage of members, taken together, 
form but one loose sentence. 

The last member of the last sen terfce is necessarily 
connected with what precedes, because it modifies or 
restrains the meaning of it ; for it is not meant, that 
the pleasures of the imagination do not suffer the mind 
to sink into negligence and remissness in general, but 
into that particular negligence and remissness which 
is apt to accompany our more sensual delights. The 
first member of this sentence affords an opportunity 
of explaining this by its opposite ; for here it is not 
meant, that those pleasures of the imagination only 
are of this innocent nature which do not require such 
a bent of thought as is necessary to our more serious 
employments, but that of this nature are the pleasures 
of the imagination in general ; and it is by asking the 
question whether a preceding member affirms any 
thing in general, or only affirms something as limited 
or qualified by what follows, that we shall discover 
whether these members are either immediately or re- 
motely connected, and, consequently, whether they 
form a loose or a compact sentence : as the former 
member, therefore, of the last sentence, is not neces- 
sarily connected with those that succeed, the sentence 
may be pronounced to be a loose sentence. 

If these observations have any solidity, we have at 
last arrived at the true distinction between a period 



28 ELEMENTS OF 

and a loose sentence ; which is, that a period is an 
assemblage of such words or members , as do not form 
sense independent on each other; or if they do, the 
former modify the latter, or inversely; and that a loose 
sentence is an assemblage of such words or members as 
do form sense, independent. on those that follow, and 
at the same time are not modified by them : A period 
or compact sentence, therefore, is divisible into two 
kinds ; the first, where the former words and mem- 
bers depend for sense on the latter, as in the sentence, 
As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial- 
plate, so the advances we make in learning are only 
perceived by the distance gone over. Which tor distinc- 
tion's sake we may call a correct period. The second kind 
of period, or compact sentence, is that where, though 
the first part forms sense icithout the latter, it is ne- 
vertheless modified by it ; as in the sentence, There are 
several arts which all men are in some measure mas- 
ters of, without being at the pains of learning them. 
Which we may call an inverted period. The loose 
sentence has its first members forming sense, without 
being modified by the latter; as in the sentence, Per- 
sons of good taste expect to be pleased at the same 
time they are informed ; and think that, the best 
sense always deserves the best language. In which 
example, we find the latter member adding something 
to the former, but not modifying or altering it. 

It will readily occur to the critical reader, that, in 
this definition of a period, I have departed widely 
from the doctrine of the ancients, who consider it as 
an assemblage of members, and not of words only ; 
but as such a reader will know the difficulty of giving 
a precise idea of a period, according to the opinion of 
the ancients, and what diversity and uncertainty there 
is about it among the moderns : he will the more easily 
excuse my hazarding a definition of my own. My 
principal object has been, to give such a definition 
as would be clear, precise, and useful ; such a one 



ELOCUTION. %$ 

as would best answer the purposes of pronunciation* 
by exactly drawing the line between the connexion 
and disjunctions of words, without making use of 
such indefinite terms as the more or less intimate 
connexion of the parts, or the concurrence of the 
parts to the plenitude of a total sense. 

Sentences thus defined and distinguished into their 
several kinds, we shall be better enabled to give such 
rules for dividing them by pauses, as will reduce 
punctuation to some rational and steady principles. 
Previously, however, to these rules, it will be neces- 
sary to observe, that as the times of the pauses are 
exceedingly indefinite, the fewer distinctions we make 
between them, the less we shall embarrass the reader : 
the common estimate of the times of the comma, the 
semicolon, the colon, and the period, in the geome- 
trical proportions of 1, 2, 4, 8, pleases us, from its 
analogy with the times of the semibrief, minim, 
crotchet, and quaver in music ; but every one will 
confess at first sight, that as these distinctions in read- 
ing are arbitrary, they are useless ; every one feels a 
difference between a greater and a smaller pause, but 
few can conceive degrees of these ; I shall beg leave, 
therefore, to reduce the number of pauses to three ; 
namely, the smaller pause, answering to the comma ; 
the greater pause answering to the semicolon and 
colon ; and the greatest pause answering to the pe- 
riod. The ancients knew nothing of the semicolon ; 
and if we consider practice and real utility, I believe 
it will be found, that the three distinctions of the 
ancients answer every useful purpose in writing and 
reading. 

The smaller pause, the greater pause, and the 
greatest pause, are the distinctions, therefore, I shall 
beg leave to adopt in the rules given for dividing a 
sentence ; and as the division of a sentence depends 
necessarily on its structure, and the greater or less 
connexion of its parts, it will be proper to begin 



30 ELEMENTS OF 

with the direct period ; that is, where no sense is 
formed till the sentence is concluded. 

Rule I. Every direct period consists of two prin- 
cipal constructive parts, between which parts the 
greater pause must be inserted ; when these parts 
commence with conjunctions that correspond with 
each other, they are sufficiently distinguishable; as 
in the following sentence : 

As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial-plate, so 
the advances we make in knowledge are only perceived by the dis- 
tance gone over. 

Here we may observe, that the first constructive 
part begins witkos, and the second with so ; the ex- 
pectation is excited by the first, and answered by the 
latter : at that point, therefore, where the expectation 
begins to be answered, and the sense begins to form, 
the principal pause is to be used ; and, by these 
means, the two contrasted and corresponding parts 
are distinctly viewed by the mind. 

A period may be direct, and its parts as necessarily 
connected, where only the first conjunction is ex- 
pressed. 



EXAMPLE. 



As in my speculations I have endeavoured to extinguish passion 
and prejudice, I am still desirous of doing some good in this parti- 
cular. Spectator. 

Here the word -so is understood before I am, and 
the long pause as much required as if so had been ex- 
pressed ; since it is here the sentence naturally divides 
into two correspondent and dependent parts. 

That point, therefore, where the expectation begins 
to be answered, or where one part of the sentence 
begins to modify the other, is the point which we 
must be the most careful to mark ; as it is here the 
sentence naturally divides itself into its principal 
constructive parts. 



ELOCUTION. 31 

Rule II. Every inverted period consists of two 
principal constructive parts, between which parts the 
greater pause may be inserted ; these parts divide at 
that point, where the latter part of the sentence begins^ 
to modify the former ; in periods of this kind, the 
latter conjunction only is expressed, as in the example: 
Every one that speaks and reasons is a grammarian, 
and a logician, though he maybe utterly unacquainted 
with the rules of grammar, or logic, as they are de- 
livered in books and systems. If we invert this period, 
we shall find it susceptible of the two correspondent 
conjunctions though and yet; as, Though utterly un- 
acquainted with the rules of grammar, or logic, a& 
delivered in books and systems, yet every man who 
speaks and reasons is a grammarian and logician. 
This inversion of the order of a sentence, is, perhaps, 
the best criterion of the connexion of its parts ; and 
proves that the former, though forming complete 
sense by itself, is modified by the latter. -^-Thus in the 
phrases, Christ died for him, because he died for all — s 
Many things are believed, though they exceed the 
capacity of our wits. Hooker. 

In these phrases, if we do but transpose the noun 
and pronoun, and invert the order, the sentences will 
be perfectly the same in.sense, and the connexion will 
be more apparent; as, Because Christ died for all, he 
died for him. — Though many things exceed the capa- 
city of our wits, they are believed. 

Rule III. Every loose sentence must consist of a 
period, either direct or inverted, and an additional 
member which does not modify it; and, consequently, 
this species of sentence requires a pause between the 
principal constructive parts of the period, and be- 
tween the period and the additional member. 

EXAMPLE. 

Persons of good taste expect to be pleased, at the same time they 
are informed j and think that the best sense always deserves the best 
language. 



32 - ELEMENTS OF 

In this sentence an inverted period is constructed at 
the word informed; which requires a pause at pleased, 
because here the former part of the sentence is modi- 
fied by the latter ; and a pause is required at informed, 
because here another member commences. Let us 
take another example : 

The soul, considered abstractedly from its passions, is of a remiss 
and sedentary nature ; slow in its resolves, and languishing in its 
executions. Spectator, No. 255. 

Here a direct period is formed at nature ; the 
principal constructive parts of this period separate at 
passions ; and here must be the larger pause: the 
succeeding members are only additional, and require 
a larger pause between them and the period they be- 
long to, and a smaller pause between each other at 
Resolves* 

Having thus given an idea of the principal pause 
in a sentence, it will be necessary to say something of 
the subordinate pauses, which may all be compre- 
hended under what is called the short pause. 

And, first it may be observed, that by the U>ng 
pause, is not meant a pause of any determinate length, 
but the longest pause in the sentence. Thus the 
pause between the nominative and the verb in the 
following sentence : 

The great and invincible Alexander, wept for the fate of Datius. 

The pause here, I say, may be called the long pause, 
though not half so long as the pause between the 
two principal constructive parts in the following 
sentence : 

If impudence prevailed as much in the forum and the courts of 
justice, as insolence does in the country and places of less resort \ 
Aulus Caecina would submit as much to the impudence of Sextus 
jEbutius in this cause, as he did before to his insolence when 
assaulted by him. 

Here the pause between the words resort, and 
Aulus Ccecina, may be called the long pause, not so 
much from its duration, as from its being the principal 



ELOCUTION. S3 

pause in the sentence : the long pause, therefore, 

must always be understood relatively to the smaller 

pauses ; and it may pass for a good general rule, that 

the principal pause is longer or shorter, according to 

the simplicity or complexity of the sentence : thus, 

in the three following sentences, we find the two 

principal constructive parts separated by a pause in 

exact proportion to the simplicity or complexity of 

the members : 

i 

EXAMPLES. 

As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial-plate, so 
the advances we make in knowledge are only perceiA able by the dis- 
tance gone over. * 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not. perceive 
it moving ; so oar advances in learning, consisting of insensible 
steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but did 
not perceive it moving; and it appears the grass has grown, though 
nobody ever saw it grow, so the advances we make in knowledge, as 
they consist of such minute steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 

In the first sentence the two principal constructive 
parts are separated by a comma at dial-plate; in the 
second, by a semicolon at moving ; and in the third, 
by a colon at grow : if, for the purposes of force, 
variety, or ease (each of which causes will be some- 
times sufficient reason for a pause, where there is 
none in the sense)— if, for any of these purposes, I 
say, it were necessary to pause in the first member of 
the first sentence, no words seem so readily to admit 
a pause between them as shadow and moving, as here 
the object is distinguished from the circumstance at- 
tending it ; and if a pause were necessary in the last 
member, the two principal parts here seem to be the 
nominative phrase ending at knowledge, and the verb 
with its adjuncts beginning at are. The second sen- 
tence seems to have all the pauses it will admit of; 
but the third might, for some of the above-mentioned 
reasons, have a pause at shadow, and, for reasons that 
will be given hereafter, ought always to have a pause 

D 



34 ELEMENTS OF 

at grown ; and as the last member is intersected by 
an incidental member between the nominative and 
the verb, it ought to have two subordinate pauses, 
one at knowledge and the other at steps, before the 
final pause at distance. 

Thus when the sentence is divided into its princi- 
pal parts by the long pause, these parts, if complex, 
are again divisible into subordinate parts by a short 
pause ; and these, if necessary, are again divisible into 
more subordinate parts by a still shorter pause, till 
at last we arrive at those words which admit of no 
pause; as the article and the substantive, the sub- 
stantive and adjective in their natural order, or, if 
unattended by adjuncts, in any order ; and the pre- 
positions and the words they govern. These words 
may be considered as principles, in their nature not 
divisible; if, without necessity, we pause between 
other words, the pronunciation will be only languid 
and embarrassed : but between these, a pause is not 
only embarrassing, but unsuitable and repugnant to 
the sense. 

The subordinate parts of sentences are easily dis- 
tinguished in such sentences as consist of parts cor- 
responding to parts, as in the following example : 

If impudence prevailed as much in the forum and courts of justice, 
as insolence does in the country and places of less resort ; Aulus 
Caecina would submit as much to the impudence of Sextus ^Ebutius 
in this cause, as he did before to his insolence when assaulted by him. 

Here the whole sentence readily divides into two 
principal constructive parts at resort ; the first part 
as readily divides into two subordinate parts at jus- 
tice ; and the last, into two other subordinate parts 
at cause ; and these are all the pauses necessary : 
but if, either from the necessity of drawing breath, 
or of more strongly enforcing every part of this sen- 
tence, we were to admit of more pauses than those, it 
cannot be denied, that for this purpose, some places 
more readily admit of a pause than others : if, for in- 



ELOCUTION. m 

stance, the first subordinate part were to admit of two 
pauses, they could no where be so suitably placed as 
at impudence and Jorum ; if the next might be over- 
pointed in the same manner, the points would be less 
unsuitable at does and country than at any other 
words ; in the same manner, a pause might be more 
tolerable at Ccecina and Mbutius, and at before and 
insolence, than in amy other of the subordinate parts 
of the latter division of this sentence. 

The parts of loose sentences which admit of the 
short pause, must be determined by the same princi- 
ples. If this instance has been properly defined, it is 
a sentence consisting of a clause containing perfect 
sense, followed by an additional clause which does 
not modify it. Thus in the following example: 

Foolish men are more apt to consider what they have lost, than 
what they possess j and to turn their eyes on those who are richer 
than themselves, rather than on those who are under greater diffi- 
culties. 

Here a perfect sentence is formed at possess, and 
here must be the longest pause, as it intervenes be- 
tween two parts nearly independent: the principal 
pause in the first member of this sentence, which may 
be called a subordinate pause respecting the whole 
sentence, is at lost, and that of the last member at 
themselves ; if, for the sake of precision, other and 
shorter pauses were admitted, it should seem most 
suitable to admit them at men and consider in the 
first member, at eyes and those in the first part of the 
second member, and at those in the last. In these 
observations, however, it must be carefully under- 
stood, that this multiplicity of shorter pauses are not 
recommended as necessary or proper, but only as 
possible, and to be admitted occasionally : and, to 
draw the line as much as possible between what is 
necessary and unnecessary, we shall endeavour to 
bring together such particular cases as demand the 

d 2 



36 ELEMENTS OF 

short pause, and those where it cannot be omitted 
without hurting either the sense or the delivery. 

Rule IV. When a nominative consists of more than 
one word, it is necessary to pause after it. 

When a nominative and a verb come in a sentence 
unattended by adjuncts, no pause is necessary, either 
for the ear or understanding : thus in the following 
sentence — Alexander wept : no pause intervenes be- 
tween these words, because they convey only two 
ideas, which are apprehended the moment they are 
pronounced ; but if these words are amplified by ad- 
juncts of specification, as in the following sentence — 
The great and invincible Alexander, wept for the fate 
of Darius : here a pause is necessary between these 
w r ords, not only that the organs may pronounce the 
whole with more ease, but that the complex nomina- 
tive and verb may, by being separately and distinctly 
exhibited, be more readily and distinctly conceived. 

This rule is so far from being unnecessary when we 
are obliged to pause after the verb, that it then be- 
comes more essential. 

EXAMPLE. 

This account of party patches will, I am afraid, appear improbable 
to those who live at a distance from the fashionable world. 

Addison's Sped. No. 81. 

If in this sentence we only pause at will, as marked 
by the printer, we shall find the verb swallowed up, 
as it were, by the nominative case, and confounded 
with it ; but if we make a short pause both before 
and after it, we shall find every part of the sentence 
obvious and distinct. 

That the nominative is more separable from the 
verb than the verb from the objective case, is plain 
from the propriety of pausing at self- love, and not at 
forsook, in the following example : 

Self-love forsook the path it first pursu'd, 
And found the private in the public good. 

Pope's Essay on Man. 



ELOCUTION. 37 

The same may be observed of the first line of the fol- 
lowing couplet : 

Earth smiles around with boundless bounty blest, 

And heaven beholds its image in his breast. Ibid. 

Here though the melody invites to a pause at beholds, 
propriety requires it at heaven. 

Rule V. Whatever member intervenes between 
the nominative ease and the verb, is of the nature of a 
parenthesis, and must be separated from both of them 
by a short pause. 

EXAMPLES. 

I am told that many virtuous matrons, who formerly have been 
taught to believe that this artificial spotting of a face was unlawful, 
are now reconciled, by a zeal for their cause, to what they could not 
be prompted by a concern for their beauty. Addison's Sped. No. 81. 

The member intervening between the nominative 
matrons and the verb are, may be considered as inci- 
dental, and must therefore be separated from both. 

When the Romans and Sabines were at war, and just upon the 
point of giving battle, the women, who were allied to both of them, 
interposed with so many tears and entreaties, that they prevented 
the mutual slaughter which threatened both parties, and- united 
them together in a firm and lasting peace. Addison, Ibid. 

Here the member intervening between the nomi- 
native case women, and the verb interposed, must be 
separated from both by a short pause. 

Rule VI. Whatever member intervenes between 
the verb and the accusative case, is of the nature of a 
parenthesis, and must be separated from both by a 
short pause. 

EXAMPLES. 

I knew a gentleman who possessed the faculty of distinguishing fla- 
vours in so great a perfection, that, after having tasted ten different 
kinds of tea, he would distinguish, without seeing the colour of it, 
the particular sort which was offered him. Addison's Sped, No. 409. 



38 ELEMENTS OF 

The member intervening between the verb distin- 
guish and the accusative the particular sort, must be 
separated from them by a short pause. 

A man of a fine taste in writing will discern, after the same man- 
ner, not only the general beauties and imperfections of an author, 
but discover the several ways of thinking and expressing himself, 
which diversify him from all other authors. Addison, Ibid. 

The member intervening between the verb discern 
and the accusative not only the general beauties, must 
be separated from both by a short pause. 

Rule VII. When two verbs come together, and the 
latter is in the infinitive mood, if any words come 
between, they must be separated from the latter verb 
by a pause. 

■ 

EXAMPLES. 

Now, because our inward passions and inclinations can never 
make themselves visible, it is impossible for a jealous man to be 
thoroughly cured of his suspicions. Spectator, No. 170. 

In this example, the verbal phrases, it is impossible 
and to be thoroughly cured, have the words for a jea- 
lous man coming between them, which must there- 
fore be separated from the latter by a comma, or 
short pause. 

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer 

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune $ 

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, 

And by opposing end them ? Shakspeare. 

If it were necessary for breathing to pause any 
where in this passage, we should find a pause much 
more admissible at mind than in any other part, as 
here a clause intervenes between the verbs is and 
suffer ; and two verbs seem more separable than a 
verb and its objective case. 



ELOCUTION. 39 

But when the substantive verb to be is followed by 
a verb in the infinitive mood, which may serve as a 
nominative case to it, and the phrases before and 
after the verb may be transposed, then the pause falls 
between the verbs. 

EXAMPLES. • 

The practice among the Turks is, to destroy, or imprison for life, 
any presumptive heir to the throne. 

Here the pause falls between is and to destroy. 

Their first step was, to possess themselves of Caesar's papers and 
money, and next to convene the senate. Goldsmith's Roman History. 

Here we must pause between was and to possess. 

Never had this august assembly been convened upon so delicate 
an occasion, as it was, to determine whether Caesar had been a legal 
magistrate or a tyrannical usurper. Ibid. 

Here the pause comes between was and to de- 
termine. 

Rule VIII. If there are several subjects belonging 
in the same manner to one verb, or several words be- 
longing in the same manner to one subject, the sub- 
jects and verbs are still to be accounted equal in 
number ; for every verb must have its subject, and 
every subject its verb ; and every one of the subjects, 
or verbs, should have its point of distinction and a 
short pause. 

EXAMPLE. 

Riches, pleasure, and health, become evils to those who do not 
know how to use them. 

Here the subjects riches, pleasure, and health, be- 
long each of them to the verb become ; as Riches 
become an evil, pleasure becomes an evil, and health 
becomes an evil, &c. Each of these, therefore, must 
be separated by a short pause ; and all of them, form- 
ing only one compound nominative case, must, ac- 
cording to Rule IV. be separated by a short pause 
from the verb. This last pause must be the more 



40 ELEMENTS OF 

particularly attended to, as we scarcely ever see it 
marked in printing. One of the best French* gram- 
marians, however, has decided, that this pause is not 
only as necessary here as between the other parts, 
but more so ; " because," says he, " if the pause be 
omitted between the last nominative and the verb, it 
might appear that the verb were more closely united 
to this than any of the rest, contrary to the truth of 
the case." 

I am perfectly of opinion with this ingenious gram- 
marian, with respect to the propriety of placing a 
pause in speaking, if not in writing, between the last 
noun and the verb, but for very different reasons : if 
we ought to insert a pause here, to show that the con- 
nexion between the last noun and the verb is no 
greater than between the verb and the preceding 
nouns, no good reason can be given why we should 
not place a pause between the last adjective and the 
substantive in this sentence : 

A polite, an active, and a supple behaviour, is necessary to suc- 
ceed in life. 

The word behaviour, in this sentence, is not more 
intimately connected in signification with supple, than 
with polite and active ; and yet no punctuist would 
insert a pause between the two former, to show that 
the three properties polite, active, and supple, were 
equally connected with the common word behaviour. 
Whence then arises the propriety of placing a pause 
between the word health and become in the former in- 
stance ? Evidently from hence : the nominative con- 
sists of three particulars, which, though distinguished 
from each other by pauses, form but one nominative 
plural, and are more connected with each other than 
with the verb they govern ; their connexion, there- 
fore, with each other, as forming one distinct part, 
and not their belonging equally to the verb, is the 
reason that a pause is proper. If shewing the eon- 

* Beauzee Grammaire .Generate, torn. ii. p. 583. 



ELOCUTION. 41 

nexion of dependent words to be equal, were the 
reason for placing a pause, we ought to place a pause 
between the pronoun and the first verb in the follow- 
ing example : 

He went into the cavern, found the instruments, hewed down the 
trees, and in one day put the vessels in a condition for sailing. 

Telemachus. 

Here every member depends equally on the pro- 
noun he, and yet it would be contrary to the best 
practice to insert a pause between this word and the 
verb went. But if the common nominative consisted 
of more than one word, a pause would not only be 
allowable, but proper, as in the following example : 

The active and indefatigable Telemachus, went into the cavern, 
found the instruments, hewed down the trees, and in one day put 
the vessels in a condition for sailing. 

It is, therefore, because the nominative forms a 
class of words more intimately connected with each 
other than all are with the verb, that makes this part 
of speech separable by a pause in the latter example, 
and not in the former.* 

Rule IX. If there are several adjectives belonging 
in the same manner to one substantive, or several 
substantives belonging in the same manner to one 
adjective, the adjective and substantives are still to 
be accounted equal in number ; for every substantive 
must have its adjective, and every adjective its sub- 
stantive, and every adjective coming after its sub- 
stantive, and every adjective coming before the sub- 
stantive except the last, must be separated by a short 
pause. 

EXAMPLE. 

A polite, an active, and a supple behaviour, is necessary to suc- 
ceed in life. 

* Why a pause is used in speaking where a comma might be 
improper in writing, see p. 13 ; and why a pause may be admitted, 
buth in writing and speaking, between the substantive and adjective, 
when several adjectives follow the substantive, and not when J:he 
adjectives precede the substantive, may be seen at large, p. 21. 



« ELEMENTS OF 

In this example, behaviour, as was observed in the 
foregoing rule, is understood to belong equally to 
polite and active, as to supple, and, consequently, 
every adjective has its correspondent substantive ; 
and as the adjectives come before the substantive, 
every one but that which immediately precedes its 
substantive is separated by a pause. The punctua- 
tion is different in the following sentence : 

A behaviour, active, supple, and polite, is necessary to succeed 
in life. 

In this example, as the substantive precedes the 
adjectives, every adjective is separated from the sub- 
stantive by a pause : for the reason of this, see p. 19. 

Rule X. If there are several adverbs belonging in 
the same manner to one verb, or several verbs be- 
longing in the same manner to one adverb, the verbs 
and adverbs are still to be accounted equal in num- 
ber : and if the adverbs come after the verb, they are 
each of them to be separated by a pause ; but if the 
adverbs come before the verb, a pause must separate 
each of them from the verb but the last. 

EXAMPLES. 

To love, wisely, rationally, and prudently, is, in the opinion of 
lovers, not to love at all. 

Wisely, rationally, and prudently to love, is, in the opinion of 
lovers, not to love at all. 

In the first example, the verb and adverb are sepa- 
rated by a pause, for the same reason that the ad- 
jective was separated from its substantive in the same 
situation in the preceding rule -.that is, the verb to love 
excites an idea which the mind may contemplate for 
a moment separately from the adverb which modifies 
it ; and as this adverb is accompanied by others, 
they form a class more united by similitude with each 
other than with the verb they modify ; and distin- 



ELOCUTION. 43 

guishiug the word to which they all relate by a 
pause, makes an equal relation to each more distinct 
and apparent. The reason why this separation does 
not take place in the last example, is, that though 
modifying words may be distinguished from each 
other, they cannot be separated, even in idea, from 
the words they modify, because they give the mind 
no object to rest on ; and so intimately are they 
always connected, that though the modified word 
comes first, and by this means affords the mind a 
momentary pause, yet no pause is admitted between 
the modified and the modifying word, unless the latter 
is accompanied by other modifying words, which 
then form a class apart, and require separation both 
from each other and the word they modify. 
Thus in the following examples : 

To eat, drink, and sleep moderately, is greatly conducive to health. 
Moderately to eat, drink, and sleep, is greatly conducive to health. 

We find the adverb moderately, in the first example, 
coming after the verb sleep, and unaccompanied by 
any other words, is not separated from the verb by a 
pause, any more than when it precedes the verb, as 
in the last example : but every critical ear will admit 
of a pause between the verb and adverb in the fol- 
lowing lines of Othello in Shakspeare : 



Then must you speak 
Of one, that loved, not wisely but too well. Shakspeare. 



Because in this passage the words, not wisely but too 
well, form a distinct class, and cannot be distinctly 
apprehended but by being separated from the verb 
they modify. 

But when the adverb precedes the verb it is then in 
the same case as the adjective before the substan- 



44 ELEMENTS OF 

tive ; it is impossible to divide it from the verb by a 
pause : 

EXAMPLES. 

This ring he holds, 
In most rich choice, yet in his idle fire, 
To buy his will it would not seem too dear, 
Howe'er repented of. Ibid. 

In this example, the adverb howe'er must neces- 
sarily be classed with the verb it precedes, and, con- 
sequently, a pause must be placed at dear. 

To trace the ways 
Of highest agents, deem'd however wise. Milton. 

Here the word however modifies the adjective wise, 
and therefore is more closely united with it than with 
the verb deemd : and if this union be not intimated 
by a short pause at deenid, the sense will be a little 
ambiguous ; as we shall not know whether these 
agents are extremely or only moderately wise. But 
when this word is used conjunctively, that is, when 
we may supply its place by substituting nevertheless, 
notwithstanding, yet, or still, a pause ought always 
to follow it. 

EXAMPLES. 

In your excuse your love does little say, 

You might howe'er, have took a fairer way. Dryden. 

Here the word howe'er is used conjunctively, and a 
pause after it is highly necessary. 

I do not build my reasoning wholly on the case of persecution ; 
however, I do not exclude it. Alter bury. 

A pause in this sentence at however, manifestly fixes 
and regulates the sense of it. 

Rule XI. Whatever words are put into the case 
absolute, commonly called the ablative absolute, must 
be separated from the rest by a short pause. 



ELOCUTION. 45 



EXAMPLES. 

If a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt or die, the 
owner thereof not being with it, he shall surely make it good. 

Old Testament. 

Here the owner thereof not being with it, is the phrase 
called the ablative absolute ; and this, like a paren- 
thesis, must be separated from the rest of the sentence 
by a short pause on each side. 

God, from the mount of Sinai, whose grey top 
Shall tremble, he descending, will himself 
In thunder, lightnings, and loud trumpet's sound 
Ordain them laws. Milton. 

Here, he descending, neither governs nor is governed 
by any other part of the sentence ; and is said to be 
in the ablative absolute, and this independence must 
be marked by a short pause before and after the 
clause. 

Rule XII. Nouns in apposition, or words in the 
same case, where the latter is only explanatory of 
the former, have a short pause between them, either 
if both these nouns consist of many terms, or the 
latter only. 

EXAMPLES. 

When first thy sire, to send on earth 

Virtue, his darling child, design'd ; 

To thee he gave the heav'nly birth, 

And bade thee form her infant mind. Gray. 

Here the word Virtue, and the following member, 
may be said to be in apposition, and must be divided 
by a short pause. 

If the two nouns are single, no pause is admitted; 
as, Paul the apostle ; King George : but if the latter 
consists of many terms, a short pause is necessary ; 
as, Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles; George, Icing of 
Great Britain, France, and Ireland. 

The reason of this seems to be the same with that 
which permits us to pause between a substantive and 



46 ELEMENTS OF 

adjective in an inverted order, when the latter has 
adjuncts that form a class ; for when nouns are in 
apposition, the latter, by qualifying the former, has 
the nature of an adjective, and is therefore subject to 
the same laws of punctuation. 

Rule XIII. Who, which, when in the nominative 
case, and the pronoun that, when used for who, or 
which, require a short pause before them. 

EXAMPLES. 

A man can never be obliged to submit to any power, unless he ean 
be satisfied, who is the person, who has a right to exercise it. Locke. 

To which, their want of judging abilities, add also their want of 
opportunity to apply such a serious consideration as may let them 
into the true goodness and evil of things which are qualities, which 
seldom display themselves to the first view. South. 

You'll rue the time, 

That clogs me with this answer. Shakspeare. 

Nothing they but dust can show, 

Or bones that hasten to be so. Cowley, 

Saints, that taught, and led the way to heav'n. TickeL 

Rule XIV. When that is used as a casual con- 
junction, it ought always to be preceded by a short 
pause. 

examples'. 

It is not, that I love you less 

Than when before your feet I lay, 

But to prevent the sad increase 

Of hopeless love, I keep away. Waller. 

Forgive me, that I thus your patience wrong. Cowley. 

The custom and familiarity of these tongues do sometimes so far 
influence the expressions in these epistles, that one may observe the 
force of the Hebrew conjugations. Locke. 

There is the greater necessity for attending to this 
rule, as we so frequently find it neglected in printing : 



ELOCUTION. 47 

for fear of crowding the line with points, and appear- 
ing to clog the sense to the eye, the ear is often de- 
frauded of her unquestionable rights. I shall give 
two instances among a thousand that might be 
brought to show where this is the case. 

I must therefore desire the reader to remember that, by the plea- 
sures of the imagination, I mean only such pleasures as arise origi- 
nally from sight. Spectator, No. 411. 

It is true, the higher nature still advances, and by that means, pre- 
serves his distance and superiority in the scale of being 5 but he 
knows that, how high soever the station is of which he stands pos- 
sessed at present, the inferior nature will at length mount up to it, 
and shine forth in the same degree of glory. Spectator, No. 111. 

In these examples, we find the incidental member 
succeeding the conjunction that is separated from it 
by a pause ; but the pause which ought to precede 
this conjunction is omitted : this punctuation runs 
through our whole orthography, and is the more 
culpable, as the insertion of the pause after that, 
where it is less wanted than before, is more apt to 
mislead the reader than if he saw no pause at all. 

Rule XV. Prepositions and conjunctions are more 
united with the words they precede than with those 
they follow ; and, consequently, if it be necessary to 
pause, the preposition and conjunction ought to be 
classed with the succeeding words, and not with the 
preceding. 

EXAMPLES. 

A violent passion, for universal admiration, produces the most 
ridiculous circumstances, in the general behaviour, of women of the 
most excellent understandings. 

As it has been formerly remarked (p. 19), we may 
pause four times in this sentence, if necessary, with- 
out in the least hurting the sense : that is, at passion, 
admiration, circumstances, and behaviour ; but if, in- 
stead of pausing at these words, we w^ere to pause at 



48 ELEMENTS OF 

the words for, produces, in, and of, which are the 
words immediately succeeding, we shall soon per- 
ceive to which words the propositions naturally 
belong. 

Homer and Hesiod intimate to us how this art should be applied, 
when they represent the muses as surrounding Jupiter, and warbling" 
hymns about his throne. 

In this example, the adverb as, and the co- 
pulative and, in the last clause, must necessarily be 
classed with the succeeding, and not the preceding 
words. 

I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 

Old Testament. 

Here the conjunction except, naturally associates 
with the latter part of the sentence, and requires a 
short pause before it. 

This let him know, 
Lest wilfully transgressing, he pretend 
Surprisal. Milton. 

In this example, the conjunction lest is very pro- 
perly separated from the preceding words by a short 
pause at know, and as the parenthetic words wilfully 
transgressing come between the conjunction, and 
the pronoun to which it belongs, the conjunction has 
very properly a pause both before and after it. 

People expect in a small essay, that a point of humour should be 
worked up, in all its parts, and a subject touched upon, in its most 
essential articles, without the repetitions, tautologies, and enlarge- 
ments, that are indulged to longer labours. Spect. No. 124. 

In this sentence the preposition up is separated from 
in, because it enters into the composition of the verb 
work, as to ivork up forms one complex verb ; the 
same may be observed of the proposition upon, in the 
next clause of the sentence. An exception to this 
will be found in the following rule. 



ELOCUTION. 49 

Rule XVI. When words are placed either in 
opposition to, or in apposition with each other, the 
words so placed require to be distinguished by a 
pause. 

This is a rule of very great extent, and will be 
more fully treated under the article Emphasis : it 
will be proper, however, to give a general idea of it 
in this place, as pause and force are very different 
things, and ought therefore to be treated separately 
and distinctly. 

EXAMPLE. i 

The pleasures of the imagination, taken in their full extent, are 
not so gross as those of sense, nor so refined as those of the under- 
standing. Spectator, No. 411. 

In this example we shall find all writers and print- 
ers agree in placing but one pause between the four 
contrasted parts, and this point is at sense ; here, it 
must be owned, is the principal pause : but it must 
likewise be acknowledged by every judicious ear, 
that a short pause at gross, and another at refined, 
convey more forcibly and distinctly every part of 
the sentence. 



Some place the bliss in action, some in ease j 
Those call it pleasure, and contentment these. 

Pope's Essay on Man. 

In this couplet we never see a pause after the two 
words some in the first line, nor after the words those 
and contentment in the second ; and yet nothing can 
be more evident than that a short pause after these 
words tends greatly to place the sense in a clear and 
distinct point of view. 

In the same manner, when one object is succes- 
sively contrasted with another, though these objects 
form the nominative case to the verb, and consist but 
of a single word, it is necessary to pause after each, 
in order to shew the contrast more distinctly. 



50 ELEMENTS OF 



EXAMPLES. 

At the same time that I think discretion the most yseful talent a 
man can be master of, I look upon cunning to be the accomplish- 
ment of little, mean, ungenerous minds. Discretion points out the 
noblest ends to us, and pursues the most proper and laudable 
methods of obtaining them : Cunning has only private selfish aims, 
and sticks at nothing which may make them succeed. Discretion 
has large and extended views, and, like a well-formed eye, commands 
the whole horizon : Cunning is a kind of short-sightedness, thatdis- 
covers^he minutest objects that are near at hand, but is not able to 
discern things at a distance. Discretion, the more it is discovered, 
gives a greater authority to the person who possesses it : Cunning, 
when it is once detected, loses its force, and makes a man incapable 
of bringing about even those events which he might have done, had 
he passed only for a plain man. Discretion is the perfection of 
reason, and a guide to us in all the duties of life ; Cunning is a 
kind of instinct, that only looks out after our immediate interest and 
welfare. Discretion is only found in men of strong sense and good 
understandings : Cunning is often to be met with in brutes them- 
selves, and in persons who are but the fewest removes from them : 
in short, cunning is only the mimic of Discretion, and may pass 
upon weak men, in the same manner as vivacity is often mistaken 
for wit, and gravity for wisdom. Addison's Spectator, No. SSS. 



In this passage, much of the force and precision of 
the contrast between discretion and cunning would 
be lost without a sensible pause after each. 

The necessity of distinguishing opposite or con- 
trasted parts in a sentence, will sometimes oblige us 
to separate words that are most intimately united. 

EXAMPLE. 

To suppose the zodiac and planets to be efficient of, and antece- 
dent to themselves, would be absurd. Bentley. 

He the prepositions of and to are in opposition to 
each other, and both connected intimately with the 
word themselves ; but this connexion does not pre- 
clude the necessity of a pause after each, to show 
their distinct and specific relation to their governing 
words, and their equal relation to the common word 
themselves. Indeed, the words of and to, in this sen- 
tence, are emphatical, for that exactness and pre- 
cision which the argument seems to require. 



ELOCUTION. 31 

It is objected by readers of history, that the battles in those nar- 
rations are scarce ever to be understood* This misfortune is to be 
ascribed to the ignorance of historians, in the method of drawing 
up, changing the forms of battalia, and the enemy retreating from, 
as well as approaching to the charge. 

Spectator, No. 428. 

The pretexts were, his having invaded and overcome many states 
that were in alliance with, and under the protection of Rome. 

Goldsmith's Rom. Hist, 

Though a pause seems admissible both ai'terfrom 
and to in this sentence, yet the opposition between 
these prepositions seems as much marked by empha- 
sis as by rest : and in examples of this kind it seems 
necessary to pause a smaller time after the last pre- 
position than after the first. 

To sum up the whole in a few words, as those 
classes of words which admit of no separation are 
very small and very few, if we do but take the oppor- 
tunity of pausing where the sense will permit, we 
shall never be obliged to break in upon the sense 
when we find ourselves under the necessity of paus- 
ing ; but if we overshoot ourselves by pronouncing 
more in a breath than is necessary, and neglecting 
those intervals where we may pause conveniently, we 
shall often find ourselves obliged to pause where the 
sense is not separable, and, consequently, to weaken 
and obscure the composition. This observation, for 
the sake of the memory, may be conveniently com- 
prised in the following verses : 

In pausing, ever let this rule take place, 
Never to separate words in any case 
That are less separable than those you join : 
And, which imports the same, not to combine 
Such words together, as do not relate 
So closely as the words you separate. 

The interrogation, exclamation, and parenthesis, 
seem rather to be whole sentences than members of 
a sentence ; and as they are distinguished from others, 

e2 



52 ELEMENTS OF 

more by a peculiar inflexion of voice than by paus- 
ing, they naturally belong to that part of this essay 
which treats of those inflexions of voice which are 
annexed to sentences, and parts of sentences, accord- 
ing to their different structure and signification. 

Thus have I attempted, with a trembling hand, to 
hint a few more rules for pausing than have been 
hitherto generally adopted ; and though but little is 
accomplished, I flatter myself enough is done to show 
how much farther we might go in this subject, if we 
would apply ourselves to it systematically, and leave 
less to the taste and understanding of the reader. 

I doubt not that many will be displeased at the 
number of pauses I have added to those already in 
use ; but I can with confidence aftirm, that not half 
the pauses are found in printing which are observed in 
the pronunciation of a good reader or speaker ; and 
that, if we would read or speak well, we must pause, 
upon an average, at every fifth or sixth word. It 
must also be observed, that public reading, or speak- 
ing, requires pausing much oftener than reading and 
conversing in private ; as the parts of a picture which 
is to be viewed at a distance, must be more distinctly 
and strongly marked, than those of an object which 
are nearer to the eye, and understood at the first in- 
spection. 



ELOCUTION. 53 



Introduction to the Theory of the Inflexions of the 

Voice. 

Besides the pauses, which indicate a greater or less 
separation of the parts of a sentence and a conclusion 
of the whole, there are certain inflexions of voice, 
accompanying these pauses, which are as necessary 
to the sense of the sentence as the pauses themselves; 
for, however exactly we may pause between those 
parts which are separable, if we do not pause with 
such an inflexion of voice as is suited to the sense, 
the composition we read will not only want its true 
meaning, but will have a meaning very different from 
that intended by the writer. How desirable, there- 
fore, must any method be, that can convey to us that 
inflexion of voice which, is best suited to the sense of 
an author ! but this will at first sight be pronounced 
impossible. What ! it will be said, will any one pre- 
tend to convey to us, upon paper, all that force, 
beauty, variety, and harmony, which a good reader 
throws into composition, when he enters into the 
spirit of his author, and displays every part of it to 
advantage ? No, it may be answered, this is not 
attempted : but, because all this cannot be done, is 
it impossible to do any part of it ? Because the exact 
time of pausing is not always denoted by the points 
in use, is it useless to have any marks of pausing at 
all ? Because the precise degree of emphatic force is 
not conveyed by printing some words in a different 
character, cannot we sometimes assist the reader in 
apprehending the force or feebleness of pronunciation, 
by printing the emphatical words in Italics ? The 
practice of this in books of instruction sufficiently 
shows it is not entirely useless ; and, if executed with 
more judgment, there is little doubt of its being ren- 
dered still more useful. 



54 ELEMENTS OF 

The truth is, something relative to the pronuncia- 
tion can be conveyed by written marks, and some- 
thing cannot. The pauses between sentences, and 
members of sentences, may be conveyed ; the accent 
on any particular syllable of a word may be conveyed; 
the emphasis on any particular word in a sentence 
may be conveyed ; and it is presumed it will be de- 
monstrated in the course of this work, that a certain 
inflexion of voice, which shows the import of the 
pauses, forms the harmony of a cadence, distinguishes 
emphasis into its different kinds, and gives each kind 
its specific and determinate meaning, may be as clearly 
conveyed upon paper, as either the pause, the accent, 
or the emphatic word : — here then is one step far- 
ther in the art of reading, than any author has hitherto 
ventured to go ; and that this new step is not entirely 
visionary and impracticable, will more clearly appear 
by considering the nature of speaking sounds* 



ELOCUTION 55 



Of the two simple Inflexions of the Voice. 

All vocal sounds may be divided into two kinds, 
namely, speaking sounds, and musical sounds. Mu- 
sical sounds are such as continue a given time on the 
precise point of the musical scale, and leap, as it were, 
from one note to another; while speaking sounds, 
instead of dwelling on the note they begin with, 
slide * either upwards, or downwards, to the neigh- 
bouring notes, without any perceptible rest on any: 
so that speaking and musical sounds are essentially 
distinct ; the former being constantly in motion from 
the moment they commence ; the latter being at rest 
for some given time in one precise note. 

The continual motion of speaking sounds makes it 
almost as impossible for the ear to mark their several 
differences, as it would be for the eye to define an 
object that is swiftly passing before it, and continu- 
ally vanishing away : the difficulty of arresting speak- 
ing sounds for examination, has made almost all 
authors suppose it impossible to give any such dis- 
tinct account of them, as to be of use in speaking and 
reading ; and indeed, the vast variety of tone which 
a good reader or speaker throws into delivery, and of 
which it is impossible to convey any idea but by imi- 
tation, has led us easily to suppose that nothing at 
all of this variety can be defined and reduced to rule : 
but when we consider, that whether words are pro- 
nounced in a high or low, in a loud or a soft tone : 
whether they are pronounced swiftly or slowly, for- 
cibly or feebly, with the tone of the passion, or with- 
out it; they must necessarily be pronounced either 
sliding upwards or downwards, or else go into a mo- 
notone or song ; when we consider this, I say, we shall 
find, that the primary division of speaking sounds is 

* Smith's Harmonics; p. 3. Note (c). 



56 ELEMENTS OF 

into the upward and the downward slide of the voice ; 
and that whatever other diversity of time, tone, or 
force, is added to speaking, it must necessarily be 
conveyed by these two slides. 

These two slides, or inflexions of voice, therefore, 
are the axis, as it were, on which the force, variety, 
and harmony of speaking turns. They may be con- 
sidered as the great outlines of pronunciation ; and 
if these outlines can be tolerably conveyed to a 
reader, they must be of nearly the same use to him, 
as the rough draught of a picture is to a pupil in 
painting. This then we shall attempt to accomplish, 
by reducing some of the most familiar phrases in the 
language, and pointing out the inflexions, which 
every ear, however unpractised, will naturally adopt 
in pronouncing them. These phrases, which are in 
every body's mouth, will become a kind of data, or 
principles, to which the reader must constantly be 
referred, when he is at a loss for the precise sound 
that is understood by these different inflexions ; and 
these familiar sounds, it is presumed, will sufficiently 
instruct him. 

Method of explaining the Inflexions of the Voice, 

It must first be premised, that by the rising or fall- 
ing inflexion, is not meant the pitch of voice in which 
the whole word is pronounced, or that loudness or 
softness which may accompany any pitch ; but that 
upward or downward slide which the voice makes 
when the pronunciation of a word is finishing ; and 
which may, therefore, not improperly be called the 
rising and falling inflexion. 

So important is a just mixture of these two inflex- 
ions, that the moment they are neglected, our pro- 
nunciation becomes forceless and monotonous : if the 
sense of a sentence require the voice to adopt the 
rising inflexion, on any particular word either in the 
middle, or at the end of a phrase, variety and harmony 



ELOCUTION. 57 

demand the faliing inflexion on one of the preceding 
words; and on the other hand, if emphasis, harmony, 
or a completion of sense, require the falling inflexion 
on any word, the word immediately preceding, almost 
always demands the rising inflexion ; so that these 
inflexions of voice are in an order nearly alternate. 

This is very observable in reading a sentence, when 
we have mistaken the connexion between the mem- 
bers, either by supposing the sense is to be continued 
when it finishes, or supposing it finished when it is 
really to be continued : for in either of these cases, 
before we have pronounced the last word, we find it 
necessary to return pretty far back to some of the 
preceding words, in order to give them such inflex- 
ions as are suitable to those which the sense requires 
on the succeeding words. Thus, in pronouncing the 
speech of Portius in Cato, which is generally mis- 
pointed, as in the following example : 



Remember what our father oft has told us, 
The ways of Heav'n are dark and intricate, 
Puzzled in mazes and perplexd in errors 5 
Our understanding traces them in vain, 
Lost and bewilder'd in the fruitless search : 
Nor sees with how much art the windings run, 
Nor where the regular confusion ends. 



If, I say, from not having considered this passage, 
we run the second line into the third, by suspending 
the voice at intricate in the rising inflexion, and drop- 
ping it at errors in the falling, we find a very impro- 
per meaning conveyed; and if, on recovering our- 
selves from this improper pronunciation, we take 
notice of the different manner in which we pronounce 
the second and third lines, we shall find, that not 
only the last word of these lines, but that every word 
alters its inflexion ; for, when we perceive, that by 
mistaking the pause, we have misconceived the sense, 
we find it necessary to begin the line again, and 



58 ELEMENTS OF 

pronounce every word differently, in order to make 
it harmonious. 

But though these two inflexions of voice run 
through almost every word of which a sentence is 
composed, they are no where so perceptible as at a 
long pause, or where the sense of the word requires 
an emphasis ; especially if the word end with a long- 
open vowel : in this case, if we do but attend nicely 
to that turn of the voice which finishes this empha- 
tical word, or that member of a sentence where we 
pause, we shall soon perceive the different inflexion 
with which these words are pronounced. 

In order to make this different inflection of voice 
more easily apprehended, it may not, perhaps, be 
useless to attend to the following directions. Let us 
suppose we are to pronounce the following sentence: 

Does Caesar deserve fame or blame? 

This sentence, it is presumed, will, at first sight, be 
pronounced with the proper inflexion of voice, by 
every one that can barely read ; and if the reader will 
but narrowly watch the sounds of the wovdisfame and 
blame, he will have an example of the two inflexions 
here spoken of: fame will have the rising, and blame 
the falling inflexion : but, to make this distinction 
still clearer, if, instead of pronouncing the vtoY&fame 
slightly, he does but give it a strong emphatic force, 
and let it drawl off the tongue for some time before 
the sound finishes, he will find it slide upwards, and 
end in a rising tone : if he makes the same experi- 
ment on the word blame, he will find the sound slide 
downwards, and end in a falling tone : and this drawl- 
ing pronunciation, though it lengthens the sounds 
beyond their proper duration, does not alter them 
essentially ; the same inflexions are preserved as in 
the common pronunciation ; and the distinction is 
as real in one mode of pronouncing as in the other, 
though not so perceptible. 



ELOCUTION. $9 

Every pause, of whatever kind, must necessarily 
adopt one of these two inflexions, or continue in a 
monotone : thus, when we ask a question without the 
interrogative words, we naturally adopt the rising 
inflexion on the last word ; as, 

Can Caesar deserve blame ? Impossible ! 

Here blame, the last word of the question, has the 
rising inflexion, contrary to the inflexion on that 
word in the former instance ; and impossible, with 
the note of admiration, the falling ; the comma, or 
that suspension of voice generally annexed to it, 
which marks a continuation of the sense, is most 
frequently accompanied by the rising reflexion, as in 
the following sentence : 

If Ceesar deserves blame, he ought to have no falne. 

Here we find the word blame, marked with a comma, 
has exactly the same inflexion of voice as the same 
word in the interrogative sentence immediately pre- 
ceding ; the only difference is, that the rising inflex- 
ion slides higher at the interrogation than at the 
comma, especially if it be pronounced with emphasis. 
The three other points, namely, the semicolon, 
colon, and period, adopt either the rising or falling 
inflexion as the sense or harmony requires, though in 
different degrees of elevation and depression. But 
these different degrees of rising or falling on the slide 
which ends the word, are by no means so essential as 
the kind of slide we adopt. Thus in the following 
sentences : 

As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial-plate, so 
the advances we make in knowledge are only perceived by the dis- 
tance gone over. 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not perceive 
it moving; so our advances in learning; consisting of insensible 
steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 



60 ELEMENTS OF 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but did 
not perceive it moving j and it appears that the grass has grown, 
though nobody ever saw it grow : so the advances we make in 
knowledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are only perceiv- 
able by the distance. 

Here, I say, the words dial-plate, moving, and grow, 
marked with the comma, semicolon, and colon, must 
necessarily end with the upward slide; and provided 
this slide be adopted, it is not of any very great con- 
sequence to the sense whether the slide be raised 
much or little ; but if the downward slide be given 
to any of these words, though in the smallest degree, 
the sense will be materially affected. 

The same points, when the sentence is differently 
constructed, adopt the other inflexion. 

Thus the inflexion of voice which is adopted in a 
series of emphatic particulars, for the sake of force 
and precision, though these particulars are marked 
by commas only, is the falling inflexion : we have 
an example of this in the true pronunciation of the 
following sentence : 

I tell you, though you, though all the world, though an angel 
from heaven, were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 

That this is the proper inflexion on each of these 
particulars, will more evidently appear by repeating 
them with the opposite inflexion of voice, or that sus- 
pension usually given to the comma : 

I tell youthough you, though all the world, though an angel 
from heaven were to affirm the truth of it I could not believe it. 

In pronouncing this sentence, therefore, in order to 
give force and precision to every portion, the falling 
inflexion ought to be adopted on you, world, and 
heaven ; and for the sake of conveying what is meant 
by this inflexion, we may call each of these words 
emphatical, and print them in Italics ; not that all 
emphasis necessary adopts the falling inflexion, but 



ELOCUTION. 61 

because this inflexion is generally annexed to empha- 
sis, for want of a just idea of the distinction of in- 
flexion here laid down : 

I tell you, though you, though all the world, though an angel 
From heaven, were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 

The falling inflexion annexed to members of sen- 
tences generally marked with the semicolon and 
colon, may be seen in the following example : 

Persons of good taste expect to be pleased, at the same time they 
are informed ; and think that the best sense always deserves the best 
language : but still the chief regard is to be had to perspicuity. 

In this example, the word informed is marked with 
the semicolon, and the word language with the colon; 
and from the sense and structure of the sentence, both 
require the falling inflexion, contrary to that annexed 
to the same points in the preceding sentences. The 
period in each sentence has the falling inflexion, and 
in the last sentence is pronounced in a lower tone of 
voice than the same inflexion on the colon and semi- 
colon. 

Thus we see, that whatever variety of another kind, 
such as loudness or softness, highness or lowness, 
swiftness or slowness, or whatever other variety we 
may accompany the points with, they must necessa- 
rily adopt either the rising or falling inflexion, or be 
pronounced in a monotone. These reflexions, there- 
fore, which are the most marking differences in read- 
ing and speaking, perhaps are not improperly pitched 
upon to serve as guides to an accurate pronunciation ; 
but as so much depends upon a just notion of this 
real though delicate distinction, if the reader is not 
yet made sufficiently acquainted with it he will not 
think it superfluous to peruse the following attempt 
to render it still clearer. 



02 ELEMENTS OF 



Another Method of explaining the Inflexions of the 

Voice. 

Every sentence consisting of an affirmation and 
negation directly opposed to each other, has an ap- 
propriated pronunciation, which, in earnest speaking, 
every ear adopts without any premeditation. Thus 
in the following sentence : 

Caesar does not deserve fame, but blame. 

Here the word fame has the rising, and blame the 
falling inflexion ; and we find all sentences construct- 
ed in the same manner have, like this, the rising in- 
flexion on the negative, and the falling inflexion on 
the affirmative number. The word blame, therefore, 
in this sentence, has not the falling inflexion on it 
because it is the last word, but because affirmation, 
opposed to negation, naturally adopts this inflexion. 

Thus far choice has been made of words different 
in sense, though similar in sound, that the sentence 
might appear to carry some meaning with it, and the 
reader be led to annex those inflexions to the words 
which the sense seemed to demand ; but, perhaps, 
the shortest method of conveying the nature of these 
inflexions, would be to take the same word, and 
place it in the interrogative and declarative sentences, 
in opposition to itself: thus it is certain, that every 
speaker upon pronouncing the following phrases, 
would give the first/awie in each line the rising, and 
the \&§tfame in each line, the falling inflexion : 

Does he say fame, or fame ? 
He does not say fame, but fame. 

But here an ear which cannot discern the true differ- 
ence of sound in these words, will be apt to suppose 



ELOCUTION. 63 

that what difference there is, arises from the last fame 
being pronounced in a lower tone than the first ; but 
this, it may be observed, makes no essential differ- 
ence : let us pronounce the last word in as high a key 
as we please, provided we preserve the proper inflex- 
ion, the contrast to the former word will appear ; as a 
proof of this, let us pronounce the last word of the last 
phrase with a strong emphasis, and we shall find, that 
though it is in a higher key than the first word fame, 
the voice slides in a contrary direction. Accordingly 
we find, that if we lay the strong emphasis upon the 
Hirst fame in the following sentence, the last fame will 
take the rising inflexion : 



He says fame, and not fame. 

So that the inflexions on the first and last fame in 
this sentence, are in an opposite order to the same 
inflexions on the same words in the two former 
phrases. 

But, perhaps, by this time, the reader's ear is puz- 
zled with the sounds of single words, and it may not 
be amiss to try it with the same inflexions, terminat- 
ing members of sentences : this, perhaps, will not 
only convey the nature of these two inflexions better 
than by sounding them upon single words, but give 
us, at the same time, a better idea of their import- 
ance and utility, And, first, let the reader try over 
the following passage of Mr. Addison in the Spec- 
tator, by reading it so as to place the rising inflexion, 
or that inflexion commonly marked by a comma, on 
every particular of the series : 



The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong, and 
full of sublime ideas : the figure of Death, the regal crown upon 
his head, his menace of Satan, his advancing to the combat, the 
outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over 
in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. 



64 ELEMENTS OF 

Then let him practise it over by reading it so as to 
place the falling inflexion, or that inflexion com- 
monly marked by a colon, on every particular of the 
series but the last : to which let him give the rising 
inflexion, marked by the comma. 



The descriptive part of the allegory is likewise very strong, and 
full of sublime ideas : the figure of Death, the regal crown upon 
his head, his menace of Satan : his advancing to the combat : the 
outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over 
in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. 



This last manner of reading this passage is un- 
questionably the true one, as it throws a kind of 
emphasis on each member, which forms a beautiful 
climax, entirely lost in the common mode of pro- 
nouncing them : and, to omit no method that may 
tend to convey an idea of this difference of inflexion, 
let us suppose these words to be all emphatical, and, 
as such, according to the common method they may 
be printed in Italics ; this is not an accurate idea of 
emphasis, as will be shown hereafter, but it is the 
common one, and, as such, may serve to show the 
difference between pronouncing the first example 
and the second. 



The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong, and 
full of sublime ideas : the figure of Death : the regal crown upon 
his head : his menace of Satan : his advancing to the combat : the 
outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over 
in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. 



If the reader, from this description of the in- 
flexions of the voice, can so far understand them 
as to be sensible of the great difference there is 
between suspending the voice at every comma 
in the first example, and giving it a forcible 
downward direction at every colon in the two 
last examples, it is presumed, he will sufficiently 



ELOCUTION. 65 

conceive, that this distinction of the two leading in- 
flexions of the voice may be applied to the most use- 
ful purposes in the art of reading. But in order to 
give a still clearer idea, if possible, of these two 
different inflections, we shall subjoin a sort of scale 
or diagram, with an explanation of each example 
annexed. 



6G ELEMENTS (J«F 



Explanation of Plate 1. 

No, I. Did he do it voluntarily or involuntarily ? 

In the pronunciation of these words, we find every 
syllable in the word voluntarily rises except the first, 
vol ; and every syllable in the word involuntarily falls 
but the first, in. A slow drawling pronunciation of 
these words will evidently show that this is the case. 
These different slides of the voice are named from 
the direction they take in the conclusion of a word, 
as that is the most apparent, especially if there are 
several syllables after the accented syllable, or if 
the word.be but of one syllable, and terminate in a 
vowel or a liquid : for, in this case, the sound lasts 
some time after the word is articulated. Thus 
voluntarily may be said to have the rising, and in- 
voluntarily the falling inflexion ; and we must care- 
fully guard against mistaking the low tone at the 
beginning of the rising inflexion for the falling in- 
flexion, and the high tone at the beginning of the 
falling inflexion for the rising inflexion, as they are 
not denominated rising or falling from the high or 
low tone in which they are pronounced, but from the 
upward or downward slide in which they terminate, 
whether pronounced in a high or a low key. 

In this representation we see something of that 
wave-like rising and falling of the voice, which con- 
stitutes the variety and harmony of speech. It will 
not be easy at first to conceive this correspondence 
between the eye and the ear, especially if we do not 
dwell distinctly on the words we repeat ; but I flatter 
myself a little custom will soon render it clear, at 
least w r ith respect to the words that are accented or 
emphatical; for it is to be observed, that in this 
scheme every word, whether accented or not, is ar- 
ranged under that line of sound to which it belongs: 



ELOCUTION. 67 

though the unaccented words are generally pro- 
nounced so feebly, as to render it often very difficult 
to say to which class they belong ; that is, whether 
to the rising or falling inflexion ; but when the ac- 
cented or emphatic words have their proper inflex- 
ion, the subordinate words can scarcely be in an im- 
proper one ; and this makes the difficulty of ascer- 
taining their true inflexion of less consequence. The 
accented or emphatic words, therefore, are those only 
which we need at present attend to ; and those in 
good speaking and reading, we shall find constantly 
adopting such an inflexion as is suitable to the sense 
and harmony of the sentence. 

The sentence, N° I. and anv other sentence con- 
structed in exactly the same manner, must necessarily 
adopt the rising inflexion on the first member, and 
the falling on the last ; that is, the rising inflexion on 
voluntary, and the falling on involuntary ; and this 
pronunciation is so appropriated to this species of 
sentence, that the dullest and most unpractised ear 
would, without the least reflection, adopt it. The 
same may be said of the sentence, N° II. which every 
ear would agree in pronouncing with the same in- 
flexions in a contrary order ; that is, the falling 
inflexion on voluntarily, and the rising on involun- 
tarily. 

N° III. and IV. show, that the same words take 
different inflexions in correspondence with the sense 
and structure of the sentence ; for as the word con- 
stitution, in N°JV. only ends a member of the sen- 
tence, and leaves the sense unfinished, it necessarily 
adopts the suspending or rising inflexion ; and har- 
mony requires that the preceding words should be so 
arranged, as to form the greatest harmony and va- 
riety, which is done by giving every one of the words 
an inflexion, different from what it has in N° III. 
where constitution ends the sentence. 

But when we say a word is to have the rising in- 
flexion, it is not meant that this word is to be pro- 



68 ELEMENTS OF 

nounced in a higher tone than other words, but that 
the latter part of the word is to have a higher tone 
than the former part ; the same may be observed, 
mutatis mutandis, of the falling inflexion ; and this 
difference of tone between the- former and latter part 
of a word (especially if the word be a monosyllable), 
is so difficult to analyse, that though we can perceive 
a difference upon the whole, we cannot easily mark 
where it lies. 

But if we form a series of words, beginning with 
long polysyllables and proceeding to monosyllables, 
and carefully preserve the same inflexion on each 
sentence, we shall plainly perceive the diversity of 
inflexion in the short as well as in the long words. 
This will appear by pronouncing the different series 
in the plate annexed. 



Explanation of Plate II. 

In this table we find the rising and falling inflexions 
very distinguishable in the long words, and grow 
more and more imperceptible in the short ones ; they 
are, however, no less real in one, than in the other ; 
as a good ear will easily perceive, by beginning at 
the long words, and repeating down to the short ones. 
From N° I. to N° IX. the contrasted words are rising 
at the comma, and falling at the note of interroga- 
tion ; and from N° X. to XVIII. they are falling at 
the comma, and rising at the period. 

Lest an inaccurate ear should be led to suppose, 
that the different signification of the opposing words 
is the reason of their sounding differently, we have 
given some phrases composed of the same words, 
which are nevertheless pronounced with exactly the 
same difference of inflexion as the others. Thus the 
words conscience, N° IV. are pronounced with the 
same difference of inflexion as the preceding phrases; 
that is, the first conscience has the rising, and the last. 




XIX Did he act -justly 

XX I know not whether he acted Justly orurt/ustly , 
but hxt acted contrary to law . 

XXI If he acted contrary to law, he could not have 
acted justly , hut unjustly . 



ELOCUTION. 69 

the falling inflexion : the following words, unjustly, 
pride, mind, all, and lad, have the same diversity of 
pronunciation ; and the diversity in these, as in the 
rest, is in an inverted order in the opposite column. 

If we consider these slides or inflexions with respect 
to quantity ; that is, how long the upward inflexion 
continues to rise from the point where it begins, and 
how long the downward inflexion falls from its com- 
mencing point; we shall find that as this difference 
is not easily ascertained, so, in an outline of this 
kind, it is of no great consequence : the rising or 
falling of the slide, in a greater or less degree, does 
not essentially affect the sense or harmony of a sen- 
tence : whde adopting one slide for the other, will 
often destroy both. See p. 59. 

Thus in the interrogative sentence, N° XIX. 
Did he act justly ? the voice ought to adopt the rising 
inflexion, and continue the upward slide on the word 
justly, somewhat longer and higher than if it had been 
a mere comma ; and yet, if we mark the rising in- 
flexion on the word justly in the sentence, N° XX. 
the difference of the slides on these tw T o words in these 
different sentences is not very considerable. 

If we consider the sentence, N° XXI. as con- 
cluding a subject or a considerable branch of it, the 
voice will gradually slide into a lower tone towards 
the end, and the word unjustly will be pronounced in 
a lower tone of voice than in the sentence, N° V. ; 
but the downward slide in both will be nearly of the 
same duration and extent: for, as we have before 
observed, as the different key in which we sing or 
play a tune, makes no difference in the length or 
shortness of the notes ; so the different pitch of voice 
in which we speak or read, has no relation to the 
height or lowness of the slide or inflexion with which 
we terminate our words. 

It will be necessary for the pupil to practise over 
these series of words, and to form sentences of his 
own, for the purpose of using the ear to distinguish 



70 ELEMENTS OF 

the inflexions. In order to this, he must dwell longer 
on the words at which he pauses, and on those which 
have emphasis, than is proper when he is reading or 
speaking in common, that the ear may be better en- 
abled to catch the inflexion : it may be remarked too, 
that the more colloquial and familiar the language, 
provided it is earnest and emphatical, the more per- 
ceptible the inflexions are : and the more elevated and 
poetical, the less so. The plaintive tone, so essential 
to the delivery of elegiac composition, greatly di- 
minishes the slides, and reduces them almost to 
monotones ; nay, a perfect monotone, without any 
inflexion at all, is sometimes very judiciously intro- 
duced in reading verse. Thus in the sublime de- 
scription of the richness of Satan's throne, in the 
beginning of the second book of Paradise Lost : 

High on a throne of royal state which far 
Outshone the wealth of Ormus or of Inde, 
Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand 
Show'rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, 
Satan exalted sat. — 

In this passage, 1 say, ev^ery word of the third and 
fourth line, but pearl and gold, may be pronounced in 
a monotone ; and this monotone will greatly add to 
the dignity and grandeur of the object described. 

As poetry, therefore, when properly read, will 
often greatly diminish, and sometimes even entirely 
sink the inflexions into a monotone ; emphatic sen- 
tences in prose will be best for the learner to 
practise upon, in order to acquire an idea of the 
difference of inflexion ; constantly observing to pro- 
long and drawl out the pronunciation of the word, the 
inflexion of which he wants to discover. 

Perhaps the best method of knowing whether we 
make use of the inflexion we intend, is to form it 
into a question with the disjunctive or, and to repeat 
it in the same manner as the interrogative sentences, 
Plate II. 



ELOCUTION. 71 

Thus in the following sentence : 

A contented mind, and a good conscience, will make a man 
happy in all conditions. 

In order to pronounce this sentence to the best 
advantage, it will be necessary to lay the falling in- 
flexion on the word mind, the rising on conscience, 
and the falling on all; if I would know the falling 
inflexion I am to lay on mind, let me form the word 
into this question, Is it mind, or mind? and the pro- 
nunciation of the last mind, as in N° VII. will be that 
which I must adopt in the sentence ; if I want to 
know the- rising inflexion on conscience, I must 
say, Is it conscience, or conscience ? and the first pro- 
nunciation of the word, as in N° IV. is that which I 
must adopt : the falling inflexion on all will be deter- 
mined by saying, Is it all, or all ? and the last all has 
the inflexion sought for. 

In the same manner, if, in the following couplet of 
Pope, 

What the weak head with strongest bias rules 
Is pride : the never-failing vice of fools. 

If in this couplet, I say, we are directed to lay the 
falling inflexion on pride, we need only form the 
word into this question — Is it pride, or pride ? and 
the last being the falling inflexion, is that which we 
ought to adopt in reading the couplet. 

It may not, perhaps, be altogether useless to 
observe, that these angular lines may be considered 
as a kind of bars in the music of speaking : each of 
them contains a certain portion of either the rising or 
falling inflexion ; but though every word in each line 
is pronounced with the same inflexion, they are not 
all pronounced with the same force; no line can have 
more than one accented or emphatic syllable in it, 



7^ ELEMENTS OF 

and the rest, though preserving the same inflexion, 
abate of the force of sound. 

With respect to the relative force of these unem- 
phatic words, see Introduction to the Theory of Em- 
phasis. 

Utility of a Knowledge of the Inflexions of the 
Voice. 

But it will be demanded : suppose we could con- 
ceive the nature of these inflexions ever so clearly, 
of what use will it be ? I answer, that as the sense 
and harmony of a sentence depend so much on the 
proper application of these inflexions, it will be of 
infinite use to an indifferent reader to know how a 
good reader applies them. 

It will, perhaps, be objected, that an attention to 
these inflexions, marked upon paper, will be apt to 
embarrass the mind of the reader, which should be 
wholly employed on the sense of the writer. To 
this objection it may be answered, that the very 
same argument will lie against the use of pauses in 
printing; and the ancient Greek method of writing 
without any intervals between words, will, according 
to this reasoning, be by far the most eligible. The 
truth is, every thing new embarrasses ; and if 
we have already acquired an art in an imperfect 
way, the means of facilitating a more perfect ac- 
quisition of it, will at first retard our progress : if 
a child has once learned to read tolerably, without 
having the words divided into syllables, such a divi- 
sion will appear new and embarrassing to him : and 
though syllabication is so confessedly useful tolearners, 
those who can once read without it, would be rather 
puzzled than assisted by it. To those, therefore, 
who already read well, this system of inflexions 
is not addressed. What help do they stand in 
need of who are sufficiently perfect ? It is to the 



ELOCUTION. 73 

learner only, and he who is in doubt about the best 
method of reading a passage, that this assistance is 
recommended ; and it mav be with confidence as- 
serted, that if such a one will but bestow half the 
time to acquire a knowledge of these inflexions that 
is usually spent in learning the gamut, he will have 
no reason to repent his labour. 

A want of instructing youth early in the know- 
ledge of inflexions, is the great occasion of embarrass- 
ment in teaching them to read. We can tell them 
they are too high or too low, too loud or too soft, too 
forcible or too feeble, and that they either pause, or 
continue the voice in the wrong place : but we have 
no way of conveying to them their error, if they make 
use of a wrong inflexion ; though this may actually 
be the case, where they are without fault in every 
other particular : that is, there may be a wrong slide 
of the voice upon a particular word, though it is 
neither pronounced too high nor too low, too loud nor 
too soft, too forcibly nor too feebly, nor with any im- 
proper pause or continuation of voice. Let us sup- 
pose, for example, a youth little instructed in reading 
were to pronounce the following sentence : 

If we have no regard to our own character, we ought to have 
some regard to the character of others. 

There is the greatest probability, I say, that such a 
reader would pronounce the first emphatic word own 
with the rising, and the last emphatic word others 
with the falling inflexion, which by no means brings 
out the sense of the sentence to the best advantage. 
To tell him he must lay more stress upon the word 
own, will by no means set him right, unless the kind 
of stress is conveyed; for he may increase the stress 
upon both the emphatic words, without removing 
the impropriety. In the same manner, if in reading 
the following passage : 

Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord ! for in thy 
sight shall no man living be justified. 



74* ELEMENTS OF 

If, in pronouncing this passage, I say, the reader 
neglects placing an emphasis on the last thy, it will 
be in vain to tell him he ought to lay a stress on that 
word, unless- we direct him to the kind of stress ; for 
though, in the former instance, the emphasis w r ith the 
falling inflexion was the true emphasis on own, the 
same emphasis on thy, in the latter instance, would 
utterly destroy the meaning : it is evident, therefore, 
if once a youth were taught to distinguish accurately 
the rising and falling inflection, how easily and me- 
thodically instruction in reading might be conveyed. 

At this point the present treatise might finish ; 
and, it is presumed, not without having added some- 
thing to the art of reading. A method which con- 
veys to us some of the essential turns of a voice in a 
good reader or speaker, cannot be without its advan- 
tages. But something farther is proposed. An 
attempt will be made to point out several of those 
varieties in the sense and structure of a sentence 
which severally demand a particular application of 
these inflexions ; from a variety of these examples, 
general rules will be drawn, and the whole doctrine 
of inflexions will be reduced into something like a 
system. A first essay on an untreated subject can 
scarcely be exempt from a multitude of inaccuracies; 
and obscurity is the natural attendant on novelty ; 
but if any advantages, however small, are the result 
of this novelty, the candid and judicious reader, who 
understands the difficulty of the undertaking, will not 
think even these small advantages entirely unworthy 
of his attention. 



ELOCUTION. 79 



Practical System of the Inflexions of the Voice. 

Words adopt particular inflexions, either according 
to the particular signification they bear, or as they 
are either differently arranged or connected with other 
words. The first application of inflexion relates to 
emphasis, which will be considered at large in its 
proper place : the last relates to that application of 
inflexion, which arises from the division of a sentence 
into its component parts ; and this is the object of 
punctuation. Punctuation, or the division of a sen- 
tence, has been already treated in the former part of 
this work: we now proceed to apply the doctrine of 
inflexion to that of punctuation, by showing what 
turns or slides of voice are most suitable to the several 
distinctions, rests,, and pauses of a sentence. But 
before any rules for applying the inflexions are laid 
down, perhaps it will be necessary again to take no- 
tice, that though there are but two simple or radi- 
cally different inflexions, the rising and falling, yet 
the latter is divisible into two kinds of very different 
and even opposite import. The falling inflexion 
without a fall of the voice, or, in other words, that 
inflexion of voice which consists of a downward 
slide, in a high and forcible tone, may either be 
applied to that part of a sentence where a portion of 
sense is formed, as at the word unjustly^ Plate II. 
N° XX., or to that part where no sense is formed, as 
at the word temperance, Plate I. N°. VI. ; but when 
this downward slide is pronounced in a lower and 
less forcible tone than the preceding words, it in- 
dicates not only that the sense, but the sentence is 
concluded. 



7^ ELEMENTS OF 

It must be carefulty noted, therefore, that when- 
ever the falling inflexion is said to be on a word, it is 
not meant that this inflexion is to be pronounced in 
a low and feeble tone, unless the sentence is con- 
cluded ; and that even a perfect sentence is not 
always to be pronounced with this inflexion in a low 
tone, will be shown hereafter under the article Final 
Pause, or Period. 

See a farther explanation of this definition, Plate 
III. N» I. and IV. 

The rising inflexion is denoted by the acute ac- 
cent, thus ('). 

The falling inflexion is denoted by the grave ac- 
cent, thus ( v ) 

COMPACT SENTENCE. 

Direct Period. 

Rule I. Every direct period, so constructed as to 
have its two principal constructive parts connected 
by correspondent conjunctions, requires the long 
pause with the rising inflexion at the end of the first 
principal constructive member. 

EXAMPLES. 

As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial-plate, so 
the advances we make in knowledge are only perceived by the dis- 
tance gone over. 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not perceive 
it moving ; so our advances in learning, consisting of insensible 
steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but did 
not perceive it moving ; and it appears that the grass has grown, 
though nobody ever saw it grow; so the advances we make in know- 
ledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are only perceivable by 
the distance. 

Each of these three sentences consists of two prin- 
cipal correspondent parts; the first commencing with 






ELOCUTION. 77 

as, and the last with so : as the first member of the 
first sentence is simple, it is marked with a comma 
only at dial-plate; as the second is compounded, it 
is marked with the semicolon at moving ; and as the 
last is decompounded, it is marked with a colon at 
grow : this punctuation is according to the general 
rules of pausing, and agreeable to good sense ; for it 
is certainly proper that the time of the pause should 
increase with the increase and complexity of the 
members to which it is annexed, as more time is 
required to comprehend a large and complicated 
member than a short and simple one : but whatever 
may be the time taken up in pausing at the different 
points, the inflexion annexed to them must always 
be the same ; that is 5 the comma, semicolon, and 
colon, must invariably have the rising inflexion. See 
p. 59. 

The same may be observed of the following sen- 
tences. See p. 30. 



Although I fear it may be a shame to be dismayed at the entrance 
of my discourse in defence of a most valiant man; and that it no 
ways becomes me, while Milo is more concerned for the safety of 
the state than for himself, not to show the same greatness of mind in 
behalf of him : yet this new form of prosecution terrifies my eyes, 
which, whatever way they turn, want the ancient custom of the 
forum, and the former manner of trials. Cicero's Oration for Milo. 



Although son Marcus, as you have now been a hearer of Cratip- 
pus for a year, and this at Athens, you ought to abound in the pre- 
cepts and doctrines of philosophy, by reason of the great character 
both of your instructor and the city, one of which can furnish you 
with knowledge, and the other with examples; yet, as I always to 
my advantage joined the Latin tongue with the Greek, and I have 
done it not only in oratory, but likewise in philosophy; I think you 
ought to do the same, that you may be equally conversant in both 
languages. Cicero's Offices, book 1. chap. i. 



These sentences begin with the concessive con- 
junction although, and have their correspondent 



78 ELEMENTS OF 

conjunction yet; and these conjunctions form the 
two principal constructive members. The words 
him, and examples, therefore, at the end of the first 
members must have the rising inflexion, and here 
must be the long pause. 

Rule II. Every direct period, consisting of two 
principal constructive parts, and having only the first 
part commencing with a conjunction, requires the 
rising inflexion and long pause at the end of this 
part. See p. 31. 

EXAMPLES. 

As in my speculations I have endeavoured to extinguish passion 
and prejudice, I am still desirous of doing some good in this par- 
ticular. Spectator. 

Here the sentence divides itself into two corre- 
spondent parts at prejudice ; and as the word so is 
understood before the words I am, they must be pre- 
ceded by the long pause and rising inflexion. 

If impudence prevailed as much in the forum and courts of jus- 
tice, as insolence does in the country and places of less resort j 
Aulus Csecina would submit as much to the impudence <rf Sextus 
iEbutius in this cause, as he did before to his insolence when 
assaulted hy him. 

If I have any genius, which I am sensible can be but very small ; 
or any readiness of speaking, in which I do not deny but I have 
been much conversant ; or any skill in oratory, from an acquaint- 
ance with the best aits, to which 1 confess I have been always in- 
clined : no one has a better right to demand of me the fruit of all 
these things than this Aulus Licinius, Cicero's Oration for Archias. 

If, after surveying the whole earth at once, and the several planets 
that lie within its neighbourhood, we contemplate those wide fields 
of ether, that reach in height as far as from Saturn to the fixed stars, 
and run abroad, almost to an infinitude 5 our imagination finds its 
capacity filled with so immense a prospect, and puts itself upon the 
stretch to comprehend it. Addison's Spectator, No. 411. 

In the first of these examples, the first part of the 
sentence endes at resort, and the second begins at 






ELOCUTION. 79 

Aulas Ccecina : in the second instance, the first part 
ends at inclined, and the second begins at no one ; 
and in the third, the first part ends at infinitude, and 
the second begins at our : between these words, 
therefore, in each sentence, must be inserted the long 
pause and rising inflexion. 

All these sentences commence with a conjunction, 
and may be said to have a correspondent conjunc- 
tion commencing the second part of the sentence, 
not expressed, but understood. In the first sentence 
commencing with if, then is understood at the begin- 
ning of the second part; the sense of this conjunc- 
tive adverb then may be plainly perceived to exist by 
inserting it in the sentence, and observing its suit- 
ableness when expressed : 

If impudence prevailed as much in the forum and courts of jus- 
tice, as insolence does in the country and places of less resort, then 
Aulus Csecina would submit as much to the impudence of Sextus 
iEbutius in this cause, as he did before to his insolence when as- 
saulted by him. 

The same insertion of the word then might be made 
in the last two examples commencing with if, and 
the same suitableness would appear ; for though cor- 
rect and animated language tends to suppress as 
much as possible the words that are so implied in the 
sense as to make it unnecessary to express them, yet 
if, when inserted, they are suitable to the sense, it is 
''a proof that the structure of the sentence is perfectly 
the same, whether these superfluous words are ex- 
pressed or not. 

The exception to this rule is, when the emphati- 
cal word in the conditional part of the sentence is 
in direct opposition to another word in the con- 
clusion, and a concession is implied in the for- 
mer, in order to strengthen the argument in the 
latter ; for in this case the middle of the sentence 
has the falling, and the latter member the rising 
inflexion. 



80 ELEMENTS OF 



EXAMPLES. 

If we have no regard for religion in youth, we ought to have 
some regard for it in old age. 

If we have no regard for our 6wn character, we ought to have 
some regard for the character of others. 

In these examples, we find the words youth, and 
own character, have the falling inflexion, and both 
periods end with the rising inflexion ; but if these 
sentences had been formed so as to make the latter 
member a mere inference from, or consequence of 
the former, the general rule would have taken place, 
and the first emphatic word would have had the 
rising, and the last the falling inflexion. 

EXAMPLES. 

If we have no regard for religion in yotith, we have seldom any 
regard for it in age . 

If we have no regard for our 6*wn character, it can scarcely be 
expected that we could have any regard for the character of dthers. 

Rule III. Direct periods which commence with 
participles of the present and past tense, consist of 
two parts ; between which must be inserted the long 
pause and rising inflexion. 

EXAMPLE. 

Having already shown how the fancy is affected by the works of 
nature, and afterwards considered in general both the works of 
nature and of art, how they mutually assist and complete each other, 
in forming such scenes and prospects as are most likely to delight 
the mind of the beholder ; I shall in this paper throw together some 
reflections on that particular art, which has a more immediate ten- 
dency than any other, to produce those primary pleasures of the 
imagination, which have hitherto been the subject of this discourse. 

Sped. No. 415. 

The sense is suspended in this sentence, till the 
word beholder, and here is to be placed the long 



ELOCUTION. 81 

pause and rising inflexion ; in this place also, it is 
evident, the word now might be inserted in perfect 
conformity to the sense. 



Exception. 

When the last word of the first part of these sen- 
tences requires the strong emphasis, the falling in- 
flexion must be used instead of the rising. 

EXAMPLE. 

Hannibal being frequently destitute of money and provisions, with 
no recruits of strength in ease of ill fortune, and no encouragement 
even when successful -, it is not to be wondered at that his affairs 
began at length to decline. Goldsmith's Rom. Hist. vol. i. p. 278. 

In this sentence, the phrase even when successful, 
demands the strong emphasis, and must therefore 
be pronounced with the falling inflexion: it may 
be observed likewise, that these sentences are of 
the nature of those constructed on conjunctions ; as 
the last member of this would easily admit of then 
at the beginning, to show a kind of condition in the 
former, which corresponds with and modifies the 
latter. 

Inverted Period. 



Rule I. Every period, where the first part forms 
perfect sense by itself, but is modified or determined 
in its signification by the latter, has the rising in- 
flexion and long pause between these parts, as in the 
direct period. See p. 30. 

EXAMPLE. 

Gratian very often recommends the fine taste, as the utmost per- 
fection of an accomplished man, 

G 



82 ELEMENTS OF 

In this sentence, the first member ending at taste 
forms perfect sense, but is qualified by the last : 
for Gratian is not said simply to recommend the 
fine taste, but to recommend it in a certain way; 
that is, as the utmost perfection of an accomplished 
man. The same may be observed of the following 
sentence : 



Persons of good taste expect to be pleased, at the same time they 
are informed. 

Here perfect sense is formed at pleased ; but it is not 
meant that persons of good taste are pleased in gene- 
ral, but with reference to the time they are informed : 
the words taste and pleased, therefore, in these sen- 
tences^ we must pronounce with the rising inflexion, 
and accompany this inflexion with a pause. For the 
same reasons, the same pause and inflexion must 
precede the word though in the following examples : 



I can desire to perceive those things that God has prepared for 
those that love him, though they be such as eye hath not seen, 
ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. 

Locke. 

The sound of love makes your soft heart afraid, 

And guard itself, though but a child invade. Waller. 



Loose Sentence. 

A loose sentence has been shown to consist of a 
period, either direct or inverted, and an additional 
member which does not modify it ; or, in other 
words, a loose sentence is a member containing 
perfect sense by itself, followed by some other mem- 
ber or members 3 which do not restrain or qualify 
its signification. According to this definition, a 
new sentence must have that member which forms 



ELOCUTION. 83 

perfect sense detached from those that follow, by a 
long pause and the falling inflexion. See p. 31. 

As, in speaking, the ear seizes every occasion of 
varying the tone of voice which the sense will per- 
mit ; so, in reading, we ought as much as possible 
to imitate the variety of speaking, by taking every 
opportunity of altering the voice in correspondence 
with the sense : the most general fault of printing, 
is to mark those members of loose sentences, which 
form perfect sense, with a comma, instead of a semi- 
colon, or colon ; and a similar, as well as the most 
common fault of readers, is to suspend the voice at 
the end of these members, and so to run the sense 
of one member into another: by this means, the 
sense is obscured, and a monotony is produced, in- 
stead of that distinctness and variety which arises 
from pronouncing these members with such an 
inflexion of voice as marks a certain portion of per- 
fect sense, not immediately connected with what 
follows ; for as a member of this kind does not 
depend for its sense on the following member, it 
ought to be pronounced in such a manner, as to 
show its independence on the succeeding member, 
and its dependence on the period, as forming but a 
part of it. 

In order to convey precisely the import of these 
members, it is necessary to pronounce them with 
the falling inflexion, without suffering the voice to 
fall gradually as at a period ; by which means the 
pause becomes different from the mere comma, 
which suspends the voice, and marks immediate de- 
pendence on what follows ; and from the period, 
which marks not only an independence on what 
follows, but an exclusion of whatever may follow, 
and therefore drops the voice as,at a conclusion. As 
this inflexion is produced by a certain portion of 
perfect sense, which, in some degree, separates the 
member it falls on from those that follow, it may not 
improperly be called the disjunctive inflexion. An 

g 2 



84 ELEMENTS OF 

example will assist us in comprehending this import- 
ant inflexion in reading : 

All superiority and pre-eminence that one man can have over 
another, may be reduced to the notion of quality ; which, considered 
at large, is either that of fortune, body or mind : the first is that 
which consists in birth, title, or riches ; and is the most foreign to 
our natures, and what we can the least call our own, of any of the 
three kinds of quality. Sped. No. 219. 

In the first part of this sentence, the falling inflexion 
takes place on the word quality ; for this member, 
we find, contains perfect sense, and the succeeding 
members are not necessarily connected with it : the 
same inflexion takes place in the next member on the 
word riches ; which, with respect to the sense of the 
member it terminates, and its connexion with the 
following members, is exactly under the same pre- 
dicament as the former, though the one is marked 
w T ith a comma, and the other with a semicolon, which 
is the common punctuation in all the editions of the 
Spectator : a very little reflexion, however, will show 
us the necessity of adopting the same pause and in- 
flexion on both the above mentioned words, as this 
inflexion not only marks more precisely the com- 
pleteness of sense in the members they terminate, but 
gives a variety to the period, by making the first, 
and the succeeding members, end in a different tone 
of voice ; if we were to read all the members as if 
marked with commas, that is, as if the sense of the 
members were absolutely dependent on each other, 
the necessity of attending to this inflexion of voice in 
loose sentences would more evidently appear. This 
division of a sentence is sometimes, and ought almost 
always to be marked with a semicolon, as in the fol- 
lowing sentence at the word possess : 

EXAMPLE. 

Foolish men are more apt to consider what they have lost than 
what they possess; and to fix their eyes upon those who are richer 
than themselves, rather than upon those who are under greater diffi- 
culties. Spectator, No. 5f 4. 



ELOCUTION. 35 

But though we sometimes find these independent 
members or sentences pointed properly by the semi- 
colon, we much oftener see them marked only by a 
comma ; and thus they are necessarily confounded 
with those members which are dependent on the suc- 
ceeding member, where a comma is the proper punc- 
tuation. An and, a which, a where, or any of the 
connective words, commencing the succeeding mem- 
ber, is a sufficient reason with most printers for point- 
ing the preceding member with a comma, even where 
these connective words do not qualify the preceding 
member, and consequently do not join members 
together as they are parts of each other, but as they 
are parts of the period ; which is the case in the ex- 
amples already produced. 

The following examples afford a proof of the ne- 
cessity of adopting the falling inflexion, in order to 
separate the first member which contains perfect 
sense, from those which follow, let the punctuation 
be what it will. 



The soul, considered abstractedly from its passions, is of a remiss 
and sedentary nature, slow in its resolves, and languishing in its 
executions. Spectator, No. 255. 

b 

The faculty (taste) must in some degree be born with us, and it 
very often happens, that those who have other qualities.in perfection 
are wholly void of this. Ibid. No. 409. 

This therefore is a good office (the planting of trees) which is 
suited to the meanest capacities, and which may be performed by 
multitudes, who have not abilities to deserve well of their country, 
and recommend themselves to their posterity by any other method. 

Ibid. No. 583. 



In these last examples we may observe, that the 
first member, which is distinguished by a comma in 
most editions of the Spectator, is exactly under the 
same predicament with the member of the two former 
examples, which is marked with a semicolon; and 



86 ELEMENTS OF 

which is unquestionably the true method of pointing 
them : for though, in the compact sentence, where 
the sense is suspended till the whole is finished, the 
semicolon and colon have the rising inflexion, as in 
examples, p. 59 ; yet, in the loose sentence, these 
points are generally accompanied by the falling in- 
flexion, as in the last examples : and it must be in- 
sisted on, that unless the line be drawn between such 
members as contain perfect, and such as contain im- 
perfect sense, the parts of a sentence cannot be pro- 
nounced to the best advantage ; if by continuing the 
voice exactly in the same suspense, one thought is 
run into another which does not really belong to it, 
the sense must be injured ; and though the mind is 
often two well informed of the subject to be much at 
a loss for the sense, let the punctuation be what it 
will, yet it is impossible the sense of an author can 
be readily perceived in its full beauty, when it is ob- 
scured by an erroneous pronunciation of the sentence 
which conveys it. 

But though sense is often, harmony is much more 
frequently concerned in proper use of this disjunc- 
tive inflexion. The comma occurs so much oftener 
than any other pause, that it is highly important to 
harmonious delivery that it should not be introduced 
oftener than is necessary ; every good reader, there- 
fore, will take frequent opportunities of changing the 
comma into the semicolon, as it is chiefly from not at- 
tending to this distinction that the common punctua- 
tion is so unfavourable to variety. And if the cor- 
rectors of the press, w r ho are generally very intelligent 
men, would but adopt this distinction of a period 
into a compact and loose sentence, and in the latter 
always place a semicolon, or colon, where the former 
part of the sentence forms perfect sense, and is not 
modified by the latter, it is inconceivable how many 
errors in reading might be avoided : it must be owned, 
indeed, that the difficulty of always precisely distin- 
guishing between a member, which, by modifying the 



ELOCUTION. 87 

preceding member, is necessarily connected with it, 
and another, which only adds to what precedes, with- 
out modifying the sense, is no small extenuation of this 
common error of printers ; but it is presumed, that 
our not being able to do it in difficult cases is no 
reason we should neglect it in obvious ones, and these 
are sufficiently numerous to be of the utmost import- 
ance to our pronunciation. This will more evidently 
appear by the following rules, on the use of the fall- 
ing inflexion in the loose sentence. 

Rule I. Every member of a sentence forming con- 
sistent sense, and followed by two other members 
which do not modify or restrain its signification, 
admits of the falling inflexion. 

EXAMPLES. 

In short, to cut off all cavilling againt the ancients, and particu- 
larly those of the warmer climates, who have most heat and life in 
their imaginations, we are to consider that the rule of observing 
what the French call the bienseance in an allusion, has been found 
out of later years, and in the colder regions of the world ; where 
we would make some amends for our want of force, and spirit, by a 
scrupulous nicety and exactness in our compositions. 

Spectator, No. 160. 

In this example we see the falling inflexion at 
world 'very properly marked with a semicolon, though 
followed by the word ivhere, which seems so inti- 
mately to connect them ; and which might be shown 
in a thousand similar passages, to induce our printers 
to mark these members with a comma only. 

It is this that recommends variety, where the mind is every in- 
stant called off to something new, and the attention not suffered to 
dwell too long on any particular object. Ibid. No. 412. 

For this reason, there is nothing more enlivens a prospect than 
rivers, jet-d'eaus, and falls of water, where the scene is perpetually 
shifting and entertaining the sight every moment with something 
that is new. Ibid. No. 412. 

In these instances, though the word water in the 
last sentence, and the word variety in the preceding 



S8 ELEMENTS OF 

example, are marked with a comma only, precision, 
as well as harmony, require the falling inflexion ; the 
first member is a kind of text to the w T hole sentence, 
and is not so closely connected with the succeeding 
members as these last are with each other ; an occa- 
sional sense of the propriety of this distinction makes 
our printers sometimes point the first member of a 
similar sentence with the semicolon. 

EXAMPLE. 

At a little distance from my friend's house, among the ruins of an 
old abbey, there is a long walk of aged elms j which are shot up so 
very high, that when one passes under them, the rooks and crows 
that rest upon the tops of them seem to be cawing in another 
region. Spectator, No. 1 10. 

Here the first member is very properly pointed 
with a semicolon at elms, and the emphatic pause on 
this word gives a precision and variety to the whole 
sentence ; but as an instance how little the generality 
of our punctuists are guided by the sense of the sen- 
tence, we need only produce the period which imme- 
diately follows : 

I am very much delighted with this sort of noise, which I consider 
as a kind of natural prayer to that Being, who supplies the wants of 
his whole creation, and who, in the beautiful language of the Psalms, 
feedeth the young ravens that call upon him. Ibid. 

In these last two instances, the first part of each 
sentence is connected with the succeeding member 
by the relative which ; but as this word does not re- 
strain, but only explain and extend the meaning of 
the preceding member, the latter, like the former, 
ought to be marked with the semicolon, and pro- 
nounced with the falling inflexion. 

Cicero concludes his celebrated books de Oratore with some pre- 
cepts for pronunciation and action ; without which part he affirms, 
that the best orator in the world can never succeed, and an indif- 
ferent one who is master of this shall gain much greater applause. - 

Ibid, No. 541. 



ELOCUTION. 89 

In this instance we find the word action often 
pointed with a comma only, though it is certain that 
it ought to be pronounced with the falling inflexion ; 
for as the succeeding word without does not modify 
it, and as the next member necessarily requires the 
rising inflexion at succeed, the falling inflexion on the 
word action adds greatly to the precision and variety 
of the whole sentence. 



Antithetic Member. 

When sentences have two parts corresponding 
with each other, so as to form an antithesis, the 
first part must always terminate with the rising in- 
flexion. 

EXAMPLES. 

We are always complaining our days are few, and acting as 
though there should be no end to them. Spectator, No. 93. 

The pleasures of the imagination are not so gross as those of 
sdnse, nor so refined as those of the understanding. Ibid. No. 41 1. 

I imagined that I was admitted into a long spacious gallery, 
which had one side covered with pieces, of all the famous painters 
who are now living ; and the other with the greatest masters who 
are dead. Ibid. No. 83, 

The wicked may indeed taste a malignant kind of pleasure, in 
those actions to which they are accustomed whilst in this life ; but 
when they are removed from all those objects which are here apt to 
gratify them, they will naturally become their own tormentors. 

Ibid. No. 447. 

In all these examples, the first part of every anti- 
thesis might form a perfect sentence by itself; but 
the mutual relation between the former and latter 
part, forms as necessary a connexion, between them 
as if the former part formed no sense by itself, and the 
latter part modified and restrained the sense of the 



90 ELEMENTS OF 

former % and therefore the word few, in the first ex- 
ample, the word sense in the second, the word living 
in the third, and the words this life in the fourth, 
must necessarily adopt the rising inflexion. For the 
same reason, the same inflexion must take place at 
the word succeed in the following example : 

Cicero concludes his celebrated books de Oratore, with some pre- 
cepts for pronunciation and action j without which part, he affirms, 
that the best orator in the world can never succeed, and an indif- 
ferent one, who is master of this, shall gain much greater applause. 

Spectator, No. 541. 

Penultimate Member. 

An exception to the foregoing rules forms another 
rule, which forbids us, without absolute necessity, to 
adopt the falling inflexion on the last member but 
one. This rule is founded on the natural perception* 
of harmony in the ear, which has so much dislike to 
a too great similitude of consecutive sounds as the 
understanding has to a want of sufficient distinction 
between members differently connected. When this 
distinction, therefore, is sufficiently obvious, and no 
improper connexion is formed by using the right in- 
flexion, the ear always requires this inflexion on the 
penultimate member ; for as the last member must 
almost always be terminated by the falling inflexion at 
the period, a falling inflexion immediately preceding 
it in the penultimate member, would be too sudden a 
repetition of nearly similar sounds : hence arises the 
propriety of the following rules. 

Rule I. Every member of a sentence immediately 
preceding the last, requires the rising inflexion. 

EXAMPLE. 

Aristotle tells us, that the world is a copy or transcript of those 
ideas which were in the mind of the first Being ; and that those ideas 
which are in the mind of man are a transcript of the world : to this 



ELOCUTION. 91 

we may add, that words are the transcript of those ideas which are 
in the mind of man, and that writing or printing are the transcript 
of words. Spectator, No. ] 66. 

In this example, if there were no connexion be- 
tween the two last members from the antithesis 
they contain, the rising inflexion would be necessary 
at the end of the penultimate member, for the sake 
of sound. 

In short, a modern Pindaric writer, compared with . Pindar, is 
like a sister among the Camisars, compared with Virgil's Sybil j 
there is the distortion, grimace, and outward figure, but nothing of 
that divine impulse which raises the mind above itself, and makes 
the sounds more than human. Ibid. No. 160. 

The florist, the planter, the gardener, the husbandman, when they 
are accomplishments to the man of fortune, are great reliefs to a 
country life, and many ways useful to those who are possessed of 
them. Ibid. No. 93. 

In the first of these examples the sentence might 
have finished at itself, and in the last at life ; for the 
succeeding members do not modify them, but, as 
they are penultimate members, they necessarily re- 
quire the rising inflexion. 

He has annexed a secret pleasure to the idea of any thing that is 
new or uncommon, that he might encourage us in the pursuit after 
knowledge, and engage us to search into the wonders of his creation j 
for every new idea brings such a pleasure along with it as rewards 
"any pains we have taken in the acquisition, and consequently serves 
as a motive to put us upon fresh discoveries. Ibid. No. 413. 

In this example, we see that it is not the perfect 
sense of a member which alone qualifies it for the fall- 
ing inflexion ; it must be followed by one member at 
least, which does not admit this pause ; otherwise it 
is transferred from the first to the succeeding member, 
which is the case in this example. The first com- 
pound member forms perfect sense at the word know- 
ledge, and the succeeding member is not necessarily 
connected with it : but as this member forms perfect 
sense likewise, and is followed by one, which cannot 



92 ELEMENTS OP 

be united with it by the comma or rising inflexion ; 
therefore, to avoid the ill effect of two successive 
pauses exactly the same, the falling inflexion must be 
placed on the word creation. 

Rule II. As a farther illustration of this, we may 
observe, that when the first member forms perfect 
sense, and is followed by two members necessarily 
connected, the falling inflexion must be placed on 
the first. 

It shall ever be my study to make discoveries of this nature in hu- 
man life, and to settle the proper distinctions between the virtues and 
perfections of mankind, and those false colours and resemblances of 
them that shine alike in the eyes of the vulgar. Addison. 

In this example, we may observe that the falling 
inflexion might have been placed on the second 
member, if the second and third members had not 
been necessarily connected by an antithesis ; which 
show that the falling inflexion requires the member 
it is placed on, not only to have perfect sense inde- 
pendent on the succeeding member, but at the same 
time requires the succeeding member to be dependent 
on a third. 



Exceptions. 

Emphasis, w T hich controls every other rule in read- 
ing, forms an exception to this ; which is, that 
where an emphatic word is in the first member of a 
sentence, and the last has no emphatical word, this 
penultimate member then terminates with the falling 
inflexion. 

EXAMPLES. 

I must therefore desire the reader to remember, that by the plea- 
sures of the imagination, I meant only such pleasures as arise ori- 
ginally from sight : and that I divide these pleasures in two kinds. 

Spectator, No. 411. 



ELOCUTION. 93 

In this sentence the word sight is emphatical, and 
therefore, though in the penultimate member, must 
not have the rising, but the falling inflexion, as this is 
the inflexion best suited to the sense of the emphatic 
phrase. See article Emphasis. 

The person he chanced to see was, to all appearance, an old sordid 
blind man ; but upon his following him from place to place, he at 
last found, by his own confession, that he was Plutus, the God of 
Riches -, and that he was just come out of the house of a miser. 

Spectator, No. 464. 

In this sentence the words God of Riches, as op- 
posed to the words old sordid blind man, are empha- 
tical, and, therefore, though in the penultimate mem- 
ber, require the falling inflexion. The same may be 
observed of the word most in the following sentence: 

If they do not acquiesce in his judgment, which, I think, never 
happened above once or twice at most, they appeal to me. 

In this sentence we And the connexion interrupted, 
and the cadence injured, by giving the falling in- 
flexion to the word most ; but if we were to give this 
word the rising inflexion for the sake of preserving 
the cadence and connexion, we should lose so much 
force as would render this pronunciation less eligible 
upon the whole. The author, therefore, is answerable 
for this incompatibility of the strongest sense with the 
best sound, and the reader is reduced to choose the 
lesser evil. 

Thesame variancebetween emphasis and connexion 
may be observed in the following sentence : 

Religious hope does not only bear up the mind under her suffer- 
ings, but makes her rej6ice in them, as they may be the means of 
procuring her the great and ultimate end of all her hope. 

Spectator, No. 471. 

Here we see the word rejoice, in opposition, hear 
up the mind, require, from its being emphatical, the 
falling inflexion ; and yet, from its being modified by 
what follows, it ought "to have the rising. 



94< ELEMENTS OF 

As a corollary to the former rules, it follows, that if 
a loose sentence, having one member forming perfect 
sense, and not modified by what follows, is succeeded 
by another member, which forms perfect sense like- 
wise, unmodified by succeeding members ; that as 
often as members of this kind occur, without finishing 
the sentence, they ought to be marked with semi- 
colons, or colons, and pronounced, like a series, with 
the falling inflexion. 

EXAMPLE. 

This persuasion of the truth of the Gospel, without the evidence 
which accompanies it, would not have been so firm and so durable; 
it would not have acquired new force with age ; it would not have 
resisted the torrent of time, and have passed from age to age to our 
own days. 

In this example a perfect sentence might be formed 
at durable ; and as it is not modified by what fol- 
lows, it ought to have the falling inflexion : a perfect 
sentence might also be formed at age ; which, being 
under the same predicament as the former member, 
requires the falling inflexion likewise : a sentence in 
the same manner might be formed at time ; but as 
this is the penultimate member, it must necessarily 
adopt the rising inflexion, according to the rule laid 
down in the preceding article. 

It may be necessary to observe, that when these 
members of sentences marked with a semicolon, or 
colon, follow each other in a series, though they must 
all have the falling inflexion, this inflexion must be 
pronounced in a higher tone of voice on the second 
than on the first, and on the third than on the second ; 
to prevent the monotony which would otherwise ne- 
cessarily be the consequence : a series of colons, there- 
fore, must be considered as a compound series, and 
pronounced according to the rules laid down for the 
pronunciation of that species of sentence which will 
be the subject of the next article. 

EXAMPLE. 

Natural reason inclines men to mutual converse and society : it 
implants in them a strong affection for those who spring from them : 



ELOCUTION. 95 

it excites them to form communities, and join in public assemblies : 
and, for these ends, to endeavour to procure both the necessaries 
and conveniencies of life. Cicero. 

In this sentence the falling inflexion in the com- 
mon level of the voice is placed on the word society ; 
the same inflexion, with a little more force, and in a 
somewhat higher tone of voice, takes place on the 
words spring from them ; and the word assemblies 
has the same inflexion a little increased in force and 
height ; this gradual increase of force and height on 
the first three members, gives variety and harmony to 
the declension of voice on the next member, which 
forms the period. 

Series. 

As variety is necessary in the delivery of almost 
every separate portion of a sentence, it must be much 
more so where the sentence is so constructed that per- 
fectly similar portions succeed each other to a con- 
siderable number. If the ear is displeased at the simi- 
lar endings of two or three members, which, though 
unlike in other respects, are necessarily connected in 
sense, how intolerable must it be to hear along detail 
of perfectly similar members, pronounced with ex- 
actly the same tone of voice ! The instinctive taste 
for harmony in the most undisciplined ear would be 
disgusted with such a monotony : and we find few 
readers, even among those who are incapable of diver- 
sifying any other species of sentence, that do not en- 
deavour to throw some variety into an enumeration 
of many similar particulars. An attempt to point out 
the most harmonious and emphatic variety, and to 
reduce it to such rules as may help to guide us in the 
most frequent and obvious instances, is one of the 
principal objects of the present essay. 

Nothing, however, can be more various than the 
pronunciation of a series : almost every different num- 
ber of particulars requires a different method of vary- 
ing them : and even those of precisely the same num- 
ber of particulars, admit of a different mode of pronun- 



9& ELEMENTS OF 

ciation, as the series is either commencing or conclud- 
ing, simple or compound ; single or double, or treble, 
with many other varieties too complex to be easily 
determined : but as enumerating several particulars 
of a similar kind, in such a manner as to convey them 
more forcibly to the mind, and at the same time to 
render them agreeable to the ear ; as this, I say, is 
one of the most striking beauties in reading, it will be 
necessary to give as clear an idea as possible of that 
tone and inflexion of voice which seems so peculiarly 
adapted to this species of sentence. 

In the first place, then, we may observe, that when- 
ever we enumerate particulars with emphasis, or more 
than ordinary precision, we are apt to give some of 
the first, at least, such a tone as marks not only a dis- 
tinct enumeration but a complete one ; that is, the 
voice falls into such a tone as shows each particular 
article of enumeration to be completed, but not the 
whole number ; or, in other words, it is exactly that 
tone of voice we use, when, in collecting several par- 
ticulars into one aggregate, we distinguish with more 
than ordinary precision, each particular from the 
other. In the pronunciation of sentences of this kind, 
the similar members would naturally adopt the falling 
inflexion ; or that inflexion we use on the words vo- 
luntarily, determinately, knowingly, &c. N° X. XI. 
XII. XIII. &c. of the scale of sounds, plate II. 
p. 68 ; which inflexion not only distinguishes and 
enforces each particular taken separately, but pre- 
serves the idea of a collective whole. 

But the nature as well as use of this inflexion will, 
perhaps, be better understood by recurring to a for- 
mer example : 

I tell you, though you, though all the world, though an angel 
from heaven were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 

If, instead of adopting the falling inflexion upon you, 
world, and heaven, we suspend the voice upon these 
words, as we do upon the words voluntarily, determi- 
nately, knowingly, &c. N° I. II. III. he. or the words 



ELOCUTION. 97 

involuntarily, indeterminable, unknowingly, N° X. 
XL XII. &c. Plate II. we shall soon perceive the pro- 
priety of using the inflexion we are here describing, 
that is, the same inflexion with which we pronounce the 
words involuntarily, indeterminately, unknowingly^ 
&c. N° I. II. III. &c. or the words voluntarily, deter- 
minately, knowingly, N° X. XI. XII. &c. Plate II. 
And first let us try this passage with the rising in- 
flexion on each particular. 

I tell you, though you, though all the world, though an angel 
from heaven, were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 

How tame and insipid is this asseveration, in com- 
parison with the following manner of delivering it ! 
that is, each particular having the falling inflexion. 

I tell you, though yfcu, though all the world, though an angel 
from heaven, were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 

The necessity of adopting this inflexion in the series 
will be still more apparent, by repeating another pas- 
sage both with and without it. — And first let us try 
the example, by pronouncing it with the voice sus- 
pended on every member, as the commas seem to indi- 
cate; that is, with the rising inflexion, as on the words 
voluntarily, determinately, knowingly, &c. N° I. II. 
III. &c.*or the words involuntarily, indeterminately, 
unknowingly, N° X. XI. XII. &c. Plate II. 

The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong and 
full of sublime ideas 5 — the figure of death, the regal crown upon 
his head, his menace of Satan, his advancing to the combat, the 
outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over 
in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. 

Now let us pronounce each particular of this series 
but the last with the falling inflexion, that is, with the 
same inflexion as on the words involuntarily, indeter- 
minately, unknowingly, &c. or the words voluntarily, 
determinately, knowingly, &c. N° X. XI. XII. &c. 
Plate II. p. 68. 

The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong and 
full of sublime ideas; the figure of death, the regal crown upon 

H 



98 ELEMENTS OF 

his head, his menace of Satan, his advancing to the cbmhat, the 
outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over in 
silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. (See p. 1-20.) 

The difference of these two methods of pronounc- 
ing this sentence is so obvious as to leave no doubt to 
which we shall give the preference ; but it may not 
be improper to remark, that in a series of this kind, 
unless the language be very emphatical, it is necessary 
to give the last article of the series the rising inflexion, 
a? this is the point where the sense begins to form ; 
and this point, if emphasis forbid not, always requires 
the suspension of voice marked by the rising inflexion. 
See Compact Sentence, p. 76 and 80. 

Thus having given a general idea of this very im- 
portant figure in reading, it will be necessary to enter 
upon that system of rules, which is calculated to direct 
and ascertain the pronunciation of it ; but as every 
series requires different inflexions, as it either com- 
mences or concludes a sentence, it maybe necessary 
to observe, that by the name of a commencing series 
is meant that which begins a sentence, but does not 
conclude it ; and that by the name of a concluding 
series is meant that which ends the sentence, whether 
it begin it or not. As a difference of inflexion also 
takes place upon the several members of a series, as 
these members consist of one single word, or more 
words, it will not, perhaps, be improper to call the 
series whose members consist of single words, a simple 
series ; and those whose members consist of two or 
more words, a compound series. In order, therefore, 
to convey the rules that relate to this curious and in- 
tricate part of reading, it will be necessary to begin 
with the most simple combination of words, though 
not properly a series. 

Simple Series. 

Rule I. When two members, consisting of single 
words, commence a sentence, the first must have the 
falling, and the last the rising inflexion. 



ELOCUTION. 99 



EXAMPLES. 



Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 

The difference of tone which distinguishes the 
commencing words of this sentence will be much 
more perceptible, if we do but consult explication of 
Plate L p. 66. 

Rule II. When two members, consisting of single 
words, conclude a sentence, as the last must naturally 
have the falling inflexion, the last but one assumes 
the rising inflexion. 

The constitution is strengthened by exercise and temperance. 

This rule is the converse of the former. It must, 
however, be observed, that sentences of this kind, 
which can scarcely be called a series of particulars, 
may, when commencing, assume a different order of 
inflexions on the first words, when the succeeding 
clause does not conclude the sentence. This may be 
illustrated by consulting Plate I. N° III. and IV. ; 
where we see exercise and temperance, when the next 
clause concludes the sentence, as in N° III. adopt one 
order of inflexions ; and the same worms, when the 
next clause does not conclude, as in N° IV. adopt a 
quite opposite order. Not that this order in N° IV. 
is absolutely necessary, as that in N° III. ; but it may 
always be adopted when we wish to be more harmo- 
nious and emphatical. 

Rule III. When three members of a sentence, 
consisting of single words, succeed each other in a 
commencing series, the two last are to be pronounced 
as in Rule I. and the first with the falling inflexion, 
in a somewhat lower tone than the second. 

EXAMPLES, 

Manufactures, trade, and agriculture, naturally employ more than 
nineteen parts of the species in twenty. Spectator, No. 115. 

A man that has a taste for music, painting, or architecture, is 
like one that has another sense, when compared with such as have 
no relish of those arts. Ibid. No. 93. 

H 2 



100 • ELEMENTS OF 

In short, a modern Pindaric writer, compared with Pindar, is 
like a sister among the Camisars, compared with Virgil's Sibyl j there 
is the distbrtion, grimace, and outward figure, but nothing of that 
divine impulse, which raises the mind above itself, and makes the 
sounds more than human. Spectator, No. 160. 

Rule IV. When three members of a sentence, 
consisting of single words, succeed each other in a 
concluding series, the two last are to' be pronounced 
as in Rule II. and the first with the rising inflexion 
in a little higher tone than the second. 

EXAMPLES. 

A modern Pindaric writer compared with Pindar, is like a sister 
among the Camisars compared with Virgil's Sibyl ; the one gives 
that divine impulse which raises the mind above itself, and makes 
the sounds more than human, while the other abounds with nothing 
but distortion, grimace, and outward figure. 

It may not be improper to observe, that although 
the series of four, whether commencing or concluding, 
must necessarily have the first and last words inflected 
alike, and the two middle ones inflected alike, yet 
that the series of three in a concluding member may, 
when we are pronouncing with a degree of solemnity, 
and wish to form a cadence ; in this case, I say, we 
not only may, but must pronounce the first word with 
the falling, the second with the rising, and the last 
with the falling inflexion. 

Rule V. When four members of a sentence, con- 
sisting of single words, succeed each other in a com- 
mencing series, and are the only series in the sentence, 
they may be divided into two equal portions : the first 
member of the first portion must be pronounced with 
the rising, and the second with the falling inflexion, 
as in Rule II. ; and the two members of the last por- 
tion exactly the reverse, that is, according to Rule I. 

EXAMPLES. 

Metals, minerals, plants, and meteors, contain a thousand curious 
properties which are as engaging to the fancy as to the reason. 

Spectator, No. 4<20. 



ELOCUTION. 101 

Proofs of the immortality of the soul may justly be drawn from 
the nature of the Supreme Being, whose justice, gobdness, wisdom, 
and veracity, are all concerned in this great point. Sped. No. I'll* 

The florist, the planter, the gardener, the husbandman, when they 
are only accomplishments to the man of fortune, are great reliefs to 
a country life, and many ways useful to those who are possessed of 
them. Ibid. No. 93. 

Rule VI. When four members of a sentence, con- 
sisting of single words, succeed each other in a con- 
cluding series, a pause may, as in the former rule, 
divide them into two equal portions : but they are to 
be pronounced with exactly contrary inflexions : that 
is, the first two must be pronounced according to 
Rule I. and the two last according to Rule II. 

EXAMPLE. 

There is something very engaging to the fancy as well as to our 
reason, in the treatise of metals, minerals, plants, and meteois. 

Ibid. No. 4*20. 

An instance of the variety of inflexion with which 
a series of four particulars is pronounced, and of the 
diversity of inflexion which the series requires, as it is 
either commencing or concluding, will be greatly 
illustrated by the following example : 

He who resigns the world, has no temptation to tmvy, hatred, 
malice, anger, but is in constant possession of a serene mind ; he 
who follows the pleasures of it, which are in there very nature dis- 
appointing, is in constant search of care, solicitude, remorse, and 
confusion. Ibid. No. 282. 

The first series in this sentence, being a commenc- 
ing series, is pronounced as in Rule V. ; and the last, 
as a concluding series, according to Rule VI. 

These rules might be carried to a much greater 
length ; but too nice an attention to them in a long 
series, might not only be very difficult, but give an air 
of stiffness to the pronunciation, which would not be 
compensated by the propriety. It may be necessary, 
however, to observe, that in a long enumeration of 
particulars, it would not be improper to divide them 



102 ELEMENTS OF 

into portions of three ; and if we are not reading ex- 
tempore, as it may be called, this division of a series 
into portions of three ought to commence from the 
end of the series ; that if it is a commencing, we may 
pronounce the last portion as in Rule III. ; and if it is 
a concluding series, we may pronounce the last por- 
tion according to the observation annexed to Rule IV. 

Rule VII. When a simple series extends to a con- 
siderable length, we may divide it into portions of 
three, beginning from the last : if it be a commencing 
series, pronounce the last three words according to 
Rule III. ; and if it be a concluding series, pronounce 
them according to the observation added to Rule IV. 

Commencing Series. 

EXAMPLE. 

Love, joy, peace ; long- suffering, gentleness, goodness ; faith, 
meekness, temperance, are the fruits of the Spirit, and against such 
there is no law. 

Concluding Series. 

EXAMPLE. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace ; long suffering, 
gentleness, goodness ; faith, meekness, temperance : — Against such 
there is no law. Galatians, chap. v. 

Commencing Series. 

EXAMPLE. 

Metaphors, senigmas, mottoes, parables; fables, dreams, visions; 
dramatic writings, burlesque, and all the methods of allusion, are 
comprehended in Mr. Locke's definition of wit, and Mr. Addison's 
short explanation of it. 

Concluding Series. 

EXAMPLE. 

Mr. Locke's definition of wit, with this short explication, com- 
prehends most of the species of wit ; as metaphors, aenigmas, 
mottoes, parables ; fables, dreams, visions ; dramatic writings, bur- 
lesque, and all the methods of allusion. Spectator, No. 62. 



ELOCUTION. 303 

If these observations should appear to have too 
much refinement, and to bestow more labour on these 
passages than is rewarded by the variety produced ; 
it must be remembered, that in forming a system, and 
pushing its principles to the remotest consequences,— ^ 
for the sake of showing the extent of these governing 
principles, and giving an air of completeness and uni- 
versality to the system adopted, it is often necessary 
to attend to particulars more curious than useful ; ii\ 
however, we consider, that pronouncing these pas- 
sages in a perfect monotone would be extremely dis- 
gusting, and that some general idea of the variety 
they are capable of, may at least give the ear ii hint 
of a better pronunciation, it will not be thought 
useless that so much pains has been bestowed on this 
species of sentence. This consideration may encou- 
rage us to push our inquiries still farther into this 
laborious part of the subject ; as those readers w T ho are 
disgusted at it, may easily omit the perusal, and pass 
on to something more easy and agreeable. 

Compound Series. 
Preliminary Observations, 

When the members of a series consist of several 
words, or comprehend several distinct members of 
sentences, they are under somewhat different laws 
from those consisting of single words. In a single 
series the ear is chiefly consulted, and the inflexions 
of voice are so arranged as to produce the greatest 
variety ; but in a compound series the understanding 
takes the lead : For as a number of similar members 
of sentences in succession forms a sort of climax in 
the sense, this climax can be no way pronounced so 
forcibly as by adopting the same inflexion which is 
used for the strong emphasis ; for, by this means, 
the sense is not only placed in a more distinct point 



104 ELEMENTS OF 

of view, but the voice enabled to rise gradually upon 
every particular, and thus add force to an agreeable 
variety. 

In pronouncing the compound series, the same rule 
may be given as in the simple series : Where the 
compound series commences, the falling inflexion 
takes place on every member but the last ; and when 
the series concludes, it may take place on every mem- 
ber except the last but one. It must be carefully 
noted, likewise, that the second member ought to be 
pronounced a little higher, and more forcibly than the 
first, the third than the second, and so on ; for which 
purpose, if the members are numerous, it is evidently 
necessary to pronounce the first member in so low a 
tone as to admit of rising gradually on the same in- 
flexion to the last. 

Rule I. When two commencing members of a 
sentence, each of which consists of more than a 
single word, are in succession, the first member must 
terminate with the falling, and the last with the rising 
inflexion. 

EXAMPLE. 

Moderate exercise, and habitual temperance, strengthen the 
constitution. 

In this example, we find the first member, ending 
at exercise, pronounced with the falling, and the 
second, at temperance, pronounced with the rising 
inflexion. 

Rule II. When two successive members, each of 
which consists of more than a single word, conclude 
a sentence, the first member is to be pronounced with 
the rising, and the last with the falling inflexion, or 
rather with the falling inflexion in a lower tone o! 
voice called the concluding inflexion. See Plate I. 
N° III. and IV. p. 67. 

EXAMPLE. 

Nothing tends more powerfully to strengthen the constitution 
than moderate exercise and habitual temperance. 



ELOCUTION. 105 

In this example, the first member, at exercise, is 
pronounced with the rising inflexion, and the last, at 
temperance, with the concluding or falling inflexion, 
without force, and in a lower tone of voice than the 
preceding words. 

Rule III. When three members of a sentence, each 
of which consists of more than a single word, are in 
a commencing series, the first member must be pro- 
nounced with the falling inflexion, the second with 
the same inflexion, somewhat higher and more for- 
cible, and the third with the rising inflexion, as in the 
last member, Rule I. 

EXAMPLES. 

To advise the Ignorant, relieve the needy, comfort the afflicted, 
are duties that fall in our way almost every day of our lives. 

Sped. No. 93. 

In our country, a man seldom sets up for a poet, without attack- 
ing the reputation of all his brothers in the art. The ignorance 
of the moderns, the scribblers of the age, the decay of poetry, are 
the topics of detraction, with which he makes his entrance into the 
world. Ibid. No. 253. 

As the genius of Milton was wonderfully turned to the sublime, 
his subject is the noblest that could have entered into the thoughts 
of man ; every thing that is truly great and astonishing has a place 
in it ; the whole system of the intellectual world, the chaos and the 
creation, heaven, earth, and hell, enter into the constitution of his 
poem. Ibid. No. 315. 

Rule IV. When three members of a sentence, each 
of which consists of more than a single word, are in 
a concluding series, the falling inflexion can only fall 
on the first member, and the two last are pronounced 
exactly like the two concluding members, Rule II. 

EXAMPLES. 

It was necessary for the world, that arts should be invented and 
improved, books written and transmitted to posterity, nations con- 
quered and civilised. Spectator, No. 355. 

All other arts of perpetuating our ideas, except writing or print- 
ing, continue but a short time : Statues can last but a few thousands 
of years, edifices fewer, and colours still fewer than edifices. 

Ibid. No. 166. 



106 ELEMENTS OF 

Our lives, says Seneca, are spent either in doing nothing at all, 
or in doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing nothing that we 
ought to do. Spectator, No. 93. 

If a man would know whether he is possessed of a taste for fine 
writing, I would have him read over the celebrated works of anti- 
quity, and be very careful to observe whether he tastes the distin- 
guishing perfections, or, if I may be allowed to call them so, the 
specific qualities of the author he peruses ; whether he is particu- 
larly pleased with Livy for his manner of telling astbry j with Sal- 
lust, for his entering into those internal principles of action which 
arise from the characters and manners of the persons he describes ; 
or with Tacitus, for his displaying those outward motives of safety 
and interest, which gave birth to the whole series of transactions 
which he relates. Ibid. No. 409. 

It may here be necessary to observe, that if we 
doubt of the inflexions that are to be given to a very 
compound series, the best way to discover them will 
be to reduce the series to a few words, and then the 
proper inflexions will be very perceptible. Suppose, 
for instance, we contract the series in the last exam- 
ple to its radical words, which, for example's sake, 
let us suppose to be these — whether he is pleased with 
Livy for his story, Sallust for his characters, or 
Tacitus for his motives ; we shall find, by this trial, 
the same radical pronunciation proper both for the 
original and the abridgement. 

Rule V. When four members of a sentence, each 
of which consists of more than a single word, are in 
a commencing series, the first three are to be pro- 
nounced with the falling inflexion. 

EXAMPLE. 

Labour or exercise ferments the humours, casts them into their 
proper channels, throws off redundancies, and helps nature in those 
secret distributions, without which the body cannot subsist in its 
vigour, nor the soul act with cheerfulness. Spectator, No. 115. 

Rule VI. When four members of a sentence, each 
of which consists of more than a single word, follow 
in a concluding series, the first two members only 
can have the falling inflexion, and the two last are 



ELOCUTION. 107 

to be pronounced like the two concluding members, 
Rule II. 

EXAMPLE. 

Notwithstanding all the pains which Cicero took in the education 
of his son, history informs us, that young Marcus proved a mere 
blockhead ; and that Nature (who, it seems, was even with the son 
for her prodigality to the father) rendered him incapable of im- 
proving by all the rules of eloquence, the precepts of philosophy, 
his own endeavours, and the most refined conversation in 'Athens. 

Spectator, No. 307. 

Rule VII. When ^\e members of a sentence, each 
of which contains more than a single word, follow 
in a commencing series, the first four may be pro- 
nounced with the falling inflexion ; each member 
rising above the preceding one, and the last as in 
Rule I. 

EXAMPLES. 

The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong and 
full of sublime ideas. The figure of death, the regal crown upon 
his head, his menace of Satan, his advancing to the combat, the 
outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over 
in silence, and extremely suitable to the king of terrors. 

Spectator, No. 310. 

Aristotle observes, that the fable of an epifc pOem should abound 
in circumstances that are both credible and astonishing : Milton's 
table is a master-piece of this nature $ as the war in heaven, the 
condition of the fallen angels, the state of innocence, the tempta- 
tion of the serpent, and the fall of man, though they are very asto- 
nishing in themselves, are not only credible but actual points of 
faith. Spectator, No. 315. 

Rule VIII. When five members of a sentence, each 
of which contains more than a single word, follow in 
a concluding series, the first three may be pronounced 
with the falling inflexion, and the two last with the 
rising and falling inflexion, as in Rule II. 

EXAMPLES. 

Though we seem grieved at the shortness of life in general, we 
are wishing every period of it at an end. The minor longs to be at 
age, then to be a man of business, then to make up an estate, then 
to arrive at honours, then to retire. Spectator, No. 93. 



108 ELEMENTS OF 

There is no blessing of life comparable to the enjoyment of a 
discreet and virtuous friend. It eases and unloads the mind, clears 
and improves the understanding, engenders thoughts and know- 
ledge, animates virtue and good resolutions, to find employment 
for the most vacant hours of life. Spectator, No. 93. 

The devout man does not only believe but feels there is a Deity; 
he has actual sensations of him ; his experience concurs with his 
reason, he sees more and more in all his intercourses with him, 
and even in this life almost loses his faith in conviction. 

Ibid. No. 465. 

Rule IX. When six members of a sentence, each 
of which contains more than a single word, follow in 
a commencing series, the first five may be pronounced 
with the falling inflexion, every member rising above 
the preceding one, and the two last members as in 
Rule II. 

EXAMPLES. 

That a man, to whom he was, in a great measure, beholden for 
his crown, and even for his life ; a man to whom, by every honour 
and favour, he had endeavoured to express his gratitude; whose 
brother, the earl of Derby, was his own father-in-law ; to whom he 
had even committed the trust of his person, by creating him lord 
chamberlain ; that a man, enjoying his full confidence and affection 
not actuated by any motive of discontent or apprehension; that this 
man should engage in a conspiracy against him he deemed absolutely 
false and incredible. Humes Hist, of England, Vol. 1. p. 363. 

I would fain ask one of those bigoted infidels, supposing all the 
great points of atheism, as the casual or eternal formation of the 
wbrld, the materiality of a thinking substance, the mortality of the 
soul, the fortuitous organization of the body, the motions and gra- 
vitation of matter, with the like particulars, were laid together, and 
formed into a kind of creed, according to the opinions of the most 
celebrated atheists ; I say, supposing such a creed as this were form- 
ed, and imposed upon any one people in the world, whether it would 
not require an infinitely greater measure of faith than any set of 
articles which they so violently oppose. Spectator, No. 168. 

Under this rule may be placed that grand and ter- 
rible adjuration of Macbeth : 

I conjure you by that which you 'profess 
(Howe'er you come to know it) answer me ; 
Though you untie the winds and let them fight 
Against the churches ; though the yesty waves 



ELOCUTION. 109 

Confound and swallow navigation up ; 

Though bladed corn be lodg'd and trees blown down; 

Though castles topple on their warders' heads; 

Though palaces and pyramids do slope 

Their heads to their foundations ; though the treasure 

Of nature's germins tumble altogether, 

Ev'n till destruction sicken, answer me 

To what I ask you -, 

where by placing the falling inflexion, without drop- 
ping the voice, on each particular, and giving this 
inflexion a degree of emphasis, increasing from the 
first member to the sixth, we shall find the whole 
climax wonderfully enforced and diversified : this was 
the method approved and practised by the inimitable 
Mr. Garrick : and though it is possible that a very 
good actor may vary in some particulars from this 
rule, and yet pronounce the whole agreeably, it may 
with confidence be asserted, that no actor can pro- 
nounce this passage to so much advantage as by 
adopting the inflexions laid down in this rule. 

Rule X. When six members of a sentence, each 
of which consists of more than a single word, succed 
each other in a concluding series, the first four may 
be pronounced with the falling inflexion, each mem- 
ber ascending above the preceding ; and the two last, 
as in Rule II. 

EXAMPLE. 

For if we interpret the Spectator's words in their literal meaning, 
we must suppose that women of the first quality used to pass away 
whole mornings at a puppet-show : that they attested their princi- 
ples by patches; that an audience would sit out an evening to hear 
a dramatic performance, written in a language which they did not 
understand ; that chairs and flower-pots were introduced as actors 
on the British stage; that a promiscuous assembly of men and 
women were allowed to meet at midnight in masks within the verge 
of the court, with many improbabilities of the like nature. 

Spectator, No. 102. 

Rule XI. When seven or more members of a sen- 
tence, each of which consists of more than a single 
w r ord, succeed each other in a commencing series, all 



110 ELEMENTS OF 

but the last member may be pronounced with the 
falling inflexion, each succeeding member rising 
above that which precedes it, and the two last mem- 
bers as in Rule I. 

EXAMPLE. 

Nature has laid out all her art in beautifying the face : she has 
touched it with vermilion ; planted in it a double row of ivory; 
made it the seat of smiles and blushes ; lighted it up and enlivened 
it with the brightness of the eyes ; hung it on each side with curious 
organs of sense; given it airs and graces that cannot be described; 
and surrounded it with such a flowing shade of hair, as sets all its 
beauties in the most agreeable light. Spectator, No. 98. 



Series of Serieses. 
Preliminary Observation. 

When the members of a series, either from their 
similitude or contrariety to each other, fall into pairs 
or triplets ; these pairs or triplets, considered as whole 
members, are pronounced according to the rules re- 
specting those members of a series that consist of 
more than a single word ; but the parts of which 
these members are composed, if consisting of single 
words, are pronounced according to those rules 
which relate to those members that consist of single 
words, as far as their subordination to the whole 
series of members will permit. Hence arises, 

Rule I. When several members of a sentence con- 
sisting of distinct portions of similar or opposite words 
in a series, follow in succession, they must be pro- 
nounced singly, according/to the number of members 
in each portion, and together, according to the num- 
ber of portions in the whole sentence, that the whole 
may form one related compound series. 

EXAMPLES. 

The soul consists of many faculties, as the understanding and 
the will, with all the senses both inward and butward ; or, to speak 



ELOCUTION 111 

more philosophically, the soul can exert herself in many different 
ways of action : she can understand, will, imagine, see, and hear ; 
Idve and discourse ; and apply herself to many other like exercises 
of different kinds and natures. Spectator, No. 600. 

The first portion of this series of serieses, she can 
understand, will, imagine, as it contains one complete 
portion, may be considered as a concluding series; 
and as it forms but one portion of a greater series, 
it may be considered as a commencing one, and must 
be pronounced in subserviency to it ; that is, the first 
and second word must have the rising, and the last 
the falling inflexion, but without dropping the voice. 
The next portion must be pronounced in a similar 
manner ; that is, the first word with the rising, and 
the last with the falling inflexion, with the voice a 
little higher and more forcible on the word hear than 
on the word imagine : the next portion being the last 
but one, alters its inflexions ; the first word having 
the falling, and the last the rising inflexion, agreeably 
to the rule laid down in the preliminary observation 
to the Compound Series. 

On the other hand, those evil spirits, who, by long custom, have 
contracted in the body habits of lust and sensuality ; malice and 
revenge ; an aversion to every thing that is good, just, and laudable, 
are naturally seasoned, and prepared for pain and misery. 

Spectator, No. 447- 

As this is a commencing series of serieses, the last 
member but one of the second series, may be pro- 
nounced with the falling inflexion at revenge : and as 
the last member has a series of three single words, 
they come under Rule III. of the Simple Commenc- 
ing Series. 

The condition, speech, and behaviour of the dying parents ; with 
the age, innocence, and distress of the children, are set forth in such 
tender circumstances, that it is impossible for a reader of. common 
humanity not to be affected with them. Spectator, No. 95. 

These two serieses, containing three members each, 
and not concluding the sentence, may be considered 



112 ELEMENTS OF 

as a concluding and commencing series of three sin- 
gle members each, and pronounced as in Rule III. of 
the Simple Series. 

His (Satan's) pride, envy, and revenge : bbstinacy, despair, and 
impenitence, are all of them very artfully interwoven. 

Spectator, No. 303. 

Here are two distinct serieses of three members, 
each of which must be pronounced exactly like the 
last example, that is, like the concluding and com- 
mencing series of three, Rule III. of the Simple Series. 

The man who lives under an habitual sense of the divine presence, 
keeps up a perpetual cheerfulness of temper, and enjoys every 
moment the satisfaction of thinking himself in company with his 
dearest and best of friends. He no sooner steps out of the world, 
but his heart burns with devotion, swells with hope, and triumphs 
in the consciousness of that presence which every where surrounds 
him ; or on the contrary pours out its fears, its sbrrows, its appre- 
hensions, to the great Supporter of its existence. Sped. No. 93. 

This sentence may be considered as a sentence 
consisting of two commencing serieses, both of which 
may be pronounced according to Rule III. Compound 
Series. 

How many instances have we (in the fair sex) of chastity, fide- 
lity, devotion ? JHow many ladies distinguish themselves by the 
education of their children, care of their families, and love of their 
htisbands : which are the great achievements of womankind ; as 
the making of war, the carrying on of traffick, the administration 
of jtistice, are those by which men grow famous aud get themselves 
a name. Spectator, No. 73. 

The several series in this passage maybe considered 
as forming one complete observation ; the first is a 
concluding series of three, and maybe pronounced as 
the concluding series, Rule IV. in every member but 
the last, which being the first step of the series of 
serieses, instead of the concluding inflexion, adopts 
the falling inflexion only. The next series may be 
pronounced in the same manner as the former, with 



ELOCUTION. 113 

this difference only, the last member, being the se- 
cond step of the series of serieses, ought to have the 
falling inflexion a little higher on husbands than it 
was on devotion in the first series. The last series has 
its three members pronounced exactly like the com- 
mencing series, Rule III. ; and thus every series is 
pronounced, both according to its own particular 
analogy, and that of the three taken together. 

3S. For I am persuaded, that neither de*ath, nor life; nor angels, 
nor princip&lities, nor powers; nor things present, nor things to 
come; 

39. Nor height, nor depth ; nor any other creature, shall be able 
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our 
L6rd. Romans, ch. viii, ver. 38, 39. 

Upon the first view of this passage, we find it natu- 
rally falls into certain distinct portions of similar or 
opposite words. These portions seem to be five in 
number; the first containing two members, death, 
life; the second containing three members, angels, 
principalities, powers; the third two, things present, 
things to come; the fourth two, height, depth; the 
fifth one, any other creature; these members, if pro- 
nounced at random, and without relation to that 
order in which they are placed by the sacred writer, 
lose half their beauty and effect ; but if each member 
is pronounced with an inflexion of voice that corre- 
sponds to its situation in the sentence, the whole 
series becomes the most striking and beautiful climax 
imaginable. 

In order, then, to pronounce this passage properly, 
it is presumed that there ought to be a gradation of 
force from the first portion to the last ; and that this 
force may have the greater variety, each portion 
ought to be accompanied with a gradation of voice 
from low to high ; that each portion also should con- 
tinue distinct, every portion but the last should be 
pronounced as a simple concluding series, with the 
falling inflexion on the last member, enforcing, and 
not dropping the voice ; the last member, according 



U4 ELEMENTS OF 

to the general rule, must have the rising inflexion ; 
and in this manner of pronouncing it, the whole sen- 
tence has its greatest possible force, beauty, and 
variety. 

From the examples which have been adduced, we 
have seen in how many instances the force, variety, 
and harmony of a sentence have been improved by a 
proper use of the falling inflexion. The series in 
particular is indebted to this inflexion for its greatest 
force and beauty. But it is necessary to observe, 
that this inflexion is not equally adapted to the pro- 
nunciation of every series : where force, precision, or 
distinction is necessary, this inflexion very happily 
expresses the sense of the sentence, and forms an 
agreeable climax of sound to the ear ; but where the 
sense of the sentence does not require this force, pre- 
cision, or distinction (which is but seldom the case), 
where the sentence commences with a conditional or 
suppositive conjunction, or where the language is 
plaintive and poetical, the falling inflexion seems less 
suitable than the rising: this will be better perceived 
by a few examples. s 

EXAMPLE. 

Seeing then that the soul has many different faculties, or in other 
words many different ways of acting; that it, can be intensely pleased 
or made happy by all these different faculties or ways of acting j 
that it may be endowed with several latent faculties, which it is not 
at present in a condition to exert ; that we cannot believe the soul 
is endowed with any faculty which is of no use to it j that whenever 
any one of these faculties is transcendently pleased, the soul is in a 
State of happiness j and in the last place, considering that the happi- 
ness of another world, is to be the happiness of the whole man j who 
can question but that there is an infinite variety in those pleasures 
we arespeaking of ; and that this fullness of joy will be made up of 
all those pleasures, which the nature of the soul is capable of 
receiving?' Sped. No. 600. 

As the fourth member of this sentence, from its 
very nature, requires the rising inflexion, and as the 
whole series is constructed on ! the suppositive con- 
junction seeing; every particular member of it seems 



ELOCUTION. U5 

necessarily to require the rising inflexion ; for it may 
be observed as a pretty general rule, that where a 
conditional or a suppositive conjunction commences 
the series, if there is nothing particularly emphatical 
in it, the rising inflection on each particular of the 
series is preferable to the falling, especially if the 
language be plaintive and tender. 

EXAMPLE. 

When the gay and smiling aspect of things has begun to leave 
the passages to a man's heart thus thoughtlessly unguarded j when 
kind and caressing looks of every object without, that can natter his 
senses, has conspired with the enemy within, to betray him and put 
him off his defence ; when music likewise hath lent her aid, and 
tried her power upon the passions ; when the voice of singing men, 
and the voice of singing women, with the sound of the viol and the 
lute, have broke in upon his soul, and in some tender notes have 
touched the secret springs of rapture,- — that moment let us dissect 
and look into his heart ; see how vain, how weak, how empty a 
thing it is ! Sterne's Sermon on the House of Mourning, #c. 

In this example, the plaintive tone which the whole 
sentence requires, gives it an air of poetry, and makes 
the falling inflexion too harsh to terminate the several 
particulars ; for it may be observed in passing, that a 
series of particulars are as seldom to be pronounced 
with the falling inflexion in poetry, as they are for the 
most part to be pronounced in prose. The reason 
of this, perhaps, may be, that as poetry assumes so 
often the ornamental and the plaintive, where a dis- 
tinct and emphatic enumeration is not so much the 
object as a noble or a tender one ; that expression 
which gives the idea of force and familiarity is not 
so suitable to poetry as to prose ; as a confirmation 
of this we may observe, that when poetry becomes 
either forceful or familiar, the falling inflexion is then 
properly adopted in the pronunciation of the series. 

EXAMPLE. 

Love in these labyrinths his slaves detains, 
And mighty hearts are held in slender chains ; 

I 2 



116 ELEMENTS OF 

With hairy springes we the birds betray, 
Slight lines of hair surprise the finny prey ; 
Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare, 
And beauty draws us with a single hair. 

Rape of the Lock, Canto ii. ver. 23. 

Here the emphasis on each particular requires the 
first and second to be pronounced with the falling in- 
flexion, as in Rule VI. of the Compound Series. 

But rhyming poetry so seldom admits of this inflex- 
ion in the series, that the general rule is for a contrary 
pronunciation. 

EXAMPLE. 

So when the faithful pencil has designed 
• Some bright idea of the master's mind, 
Where a new world leaps out at his command, 
And ready nature waits upon his hand ; 
When the ripe colours soften and unite, 
And sweetly melt into just shade and light ; 
When mellowing years their full perfection give, 
And each bold figure just begins to live ; 
The treacherous colours the fair art betray, 
And all the bright creation fades away. 

Pope's Essay on Crit. ver. 484. 

In this example we find every particular, except 
the last but one (where the sentence begins to grow 
emphatical), adopt the rising inflexion as more agree- 
able to the pathetic tenor of the passage than the 
falling ; and it may be observed that there are few 
passages of this sort in rhyming poetry, of the pathetic 
or ornamental kind, which do not necessarily require 
the same inflexion. 

Thus no objection to the utility of these long 
laboured rules has been dissembled. In subjects of 
this nature something must always be left to the taste 
and judgment of the reader; but the author flatters 
himself, if any thing like a general rule is discovered 
in a point supposed to be without all rule, that some- 
thing at least is added to the common stock of know- 
ledge, which may in practice be attended with 
advantage. 



ELOCUTION. 117 

What the Bishop of London says of improvements 
in grammar, may, with the greatest propriety, be ap- 
plied to this part of elocution. " A system of this 
" kind," says this learned and ingenious writer, 
" arising from the collection and arrangement of a 
" multitude of minute particulars, which often elude 
" the most careful search, and sometimes escape ob- 
u servation when they are most obvious, must always 
" stand in need of improvement : it is, indeed, the 
" necessary condition of every work of human art or 
" science, small as well as great, to advance towards 
" perfection by slow degrees : by an approximation, 
" which, though it may still carry it forward, yet will 
" certainly never bring it to the point to which it 
" tends." Dr. Lowth 's Preface to his Grammar. 



The Final Pause or Period. 

When a sentence is so far perfectly finished, as not 
to be connected in construction with the following 
sentence, it is marked with a period. This point is 
in general so well understood, that few grammarians 
have thought it necessary to give an express example 
of it ; though there are none who have inquired into 
punctuation who do not know, that in loose sentences 
the period is frequently confounded with the colon. 
But though the tone, with which we conclude a sen- 
tence, is generally well understood, we cannot be too 
careful in pronunciation to distinguish it as much as 
possible from that member of a sentence which con- 
tains perfect sense, and is not necessarily connected 
with what follows. Such a member, which may not 
be improperly called a sententiola, or little sentence, 
requires the falling inflexion, but in a higher tone 
than the preceding words ; as if we had only finished 



US ELEMENTS- bF 

a part of what we had to say, while the period re- 
quires the falling inflexion in a lower tone, as if we 
had nothing more to add. But this final tone does 
not only lower the last word ; it has the same influ- 
ence on those which more immediately precede the 
last ; so that the cadence is prepared by a gradual 
fall upon the concluding words ; every word in the 
latter part of a sentence sliding gently lower till the 
voice drops upon the last. See this more clearly 
explained, Plates I. and II. This will more evidently 
appear upon repeating the following sentence : 

EXAMPLES. 

As the word taste arises very often in conversation, I shall endea- 
vour to give some accbunt of if, and to lay down rules how we may 
know whether we are possessed of it, and how we may acquire that 
line taste in wiiting which is so much talked of among the polite 
vvbrld. Sped. No. 407- 

We find perfect sense formed at the words account 
of it, and possessed of it ; but as they do not conclude 
the sentence, these words, if they adopt the falling 
inflexion, must be pronounced in a higher tone than 
the rest ; while in the last member, not only the word 
world is pronounced lower than the rest, but the 
whole member falls gradually into the cadence, which 
is so much talked of among the polite world. And 
here it will be absolutely necessary to observe, that 
though the period generally requires the falling in- 
flexion, every period does not necessarily adopt this 
inflexion in the same tone of voice ; if sentences are 
intimately connected in sense, though the gramma- 
tical structure of each may be independent on the 
other, they may not improperly be considered as so 
many small sentences making one large one, and thus 
requiring a pronunciation correspondent to their logi- 
cal dependence on each other : hence it may be laid 
down as a general rule ; that a series of periods in 
regular succession are to be pronounced as every 



ELOCUTION. 119 

other series : that is, if they follow each other regu- 
larly as parts of the same observation, they are to be 
pronounced as parts, and not as wholes. 



EXAMPLES. 

Some men cannot discern between a noble and a mean action. 
Others are apt to attribute them to some false end or intention, and 
others purposely misrepresent or put a wrong interpretation on 
them. Sped. No. 255. 
\ 

Though the first part of this passage is marked 
with a period in all the editions of the Spectator I 
have seen, nothing can "be plainer than that it ought 
to be pronounced as the first member of the conclud- 
ing series of three compound members. See article 
Compound Series, Rule IV. 

Thus although the whole of life is allowed by every one to be short, 
the several divisions of it appear long and tedious. We are for 
lengthening our spari in general, but would fain contract the parts 
of which it is composed. The usurer would be very well satisfied to 
have all the time annihilated, that lies between the present moment 
and next quarter-day. The politician would be contented to lose 
three years of his life, could he place things in the posture, which he 
fancies they will stand in, after such a revolution of time. The lover 
would be glad to strike out of his existence all the moments that 
are to pass away before the happy meeting. Thus as fast as our 
time runs, we should be very glad in most part of our lives, that it 
ran much faster than it does. Spectator, No. 93. 

! Though here are no less than six periods in this 
passage, and every one of them requires the falling 
inflection, yet everyone of them ought to be pro- 
nounced in a somewhat different pitch of voice from 
the other; and for this purpose they maybe con- 
sidered as a concluding series of compound members; 
the last period of which must conclude with a lower 
tone of voice than the preceding, that there may be 
a gradation. See Compound Series, Rule IV. *■ 

To these observations, this maybe subjoined, that 
the period, though generally, does not always. 



120 ELEMENTS OF 

require the falling inflexion and a lower tone of voice. 
The first and most general exception to the rule is 
the following : 



Exception /. 

When a sentence concludes an antithesis, the first 
branch of which requires the strong emphasis, and 
therefore demands the falling inflexion ; the second 
branch requires the weak emphasis, and rising in- 
flexion ; and, consequently, if this latter branch of 
the antithesis finish the sentence, it must finish with- 
out dropping the voice, that the inflexions on the 
opposite parts of the antithesis may be different. 
See Emphasis. 

EXAMPLES. 

If we have no regard for our 5wn character, we ought to have 
some regard for the character of dthers. 

If content cannot remove the disquietudes of mankind, it will at 
least alleviate them. 

I would have your papers consist also of all things which may be 
necessary or useful to any part of society 3 and the mechanic arts 
should have their place as well as the liberal. Spectator^ No. 428. 

In the first of these examples, a concession is made 
in the strongest terms in the supposition, for the sake 
of strengthening the assertion in the conclusion, and 
therefore neither can be pronounced with due force 
but by giving own the falling and others the rising 
inflexion. There is almost the same necessity for the 
same order of inflexions on remove and alleviatem the 
second example ; and the third would be more forci- 
bly pronounced with the falling inflexion on mechanic 
arts, and the rising on liberal, unless it were to con- 
clude a paragraph or branch of a subject ; for in this 
case, if the sense does necessarily require the rising in- 



ELOCUTION. 



121 



flexion, the ear will always expect the falling. See 
Penultimate Member. 

To this exception may be added another, which 
forms a rule of very great extent ; and that is, where 
the last member of a sentence is a negative, in oppo- 
sition to some affirmative, either expressed or under- 
stood ; but this rule is so allied to emphasis, that the 
reader is referred to that article, where he will find 
it fully explained and illustrated. 

Interrogation. 

" But besides the points which mark the pauses in 
(i discourse," says Dr. Lowth, " there are others 
" which denote a different modulation of the voice in 
" correspondence with the sense. The interrogation 
" and exclamation points," says the learned bishop, 
" are sufficiently explained by their names ; they are 
" indeterminate as to their quantity or time, and may 
« be equivalent in that respect to a semicolon, a 
" colon, or a period, as the sense requires ; they 
" mark an elevation of voice." This is, perhaps, as 
just an account of these points as could have been 
given in so few words : but, like every general rule 
that has been hitherto given, leaves us in a thousand 
difficulties when we would reduce it to practice. 
Whatever may be the variety of time we annex to the 
interrogation, certain it is, that there is no circum- 
stances in reading or speaking which admits of a 
greater variety of tone ; a question may imply so 
many different degrees of doubt, and is liable to so 
many alterations from a diversity of intention in the 
speaker, that I shall at present content myself with 
pointing out a few of the most obvious ; and endea- 
vour to distinguish and reduce them to certain classes, 
that they may be applied to particular examples, and 
rendered useful. 

The most obvious distinction between interrogative 
and other sentences is, that as, in other sentences, the 



122 ELEMENTS OF 

substantive or pronoun precedes the verb it governs, 
in an interrogative sentence, the verb, either auxiliary 
or principal, ought always to precede either the sub- 
stantive or pronoun. Thus, when I speak declara- 
tively, I say, I am going to college ; but when I speak 
interrogatively, I say, Are you going to college? where 
we may observe, that in the declarative and interro- 
gative sentences, the pronoun and the verb hold dif- 
ferent places. 

This inversion of the common order of the words 
in composition, is accompanied by a similar inversion 
of the inflexion of voice in pronunciation : for as the 
common order of inflexions in a declarative sentence, 
is that of placing the rising inflexion towards the 
middle, and the falling at the end, as in the first ex- 
ample ; the interrogation inverts this order, and uses 
the falling inflexion of voice in the middle of the sen- 
tence, and the rising on the last word, as in the last 
example : this peculiarity, however, does not extend 
to every species of interrogation ; and interrogative 
sentences are, in reality, so frequently to be pro- 
nounced like declarative sentences, it is scarcely any 
wonder that those who do not attend to the delicacies 
of reading should never use the rising inflexion of 
the voice on any question : but such force, spirit, and 
variety is thrown into a discourse by such an altera- 
tion of the voice as the question affords, that those 
who have the least desire to read well, ought never to 
neglect so favourable an opportunity ; a question ter- 
minating with the rising inflexion of voice at once 
breaks the chain of discourse, grown heavy by its 
length, rouses the auditor from the languor of attend- 
ing to a continued series of argument, and excites 
fresh attention by the shortness, briskness, and novelty 
of the address : and if the greatest masters of compo- 
sition have thought it necessary to throw in questions 
to enliven and enforce their harangues, those who 
have the least taste for the delivery of them, find it as 



ELOCUTION. 123 

necessary to attend to the peculiarity of voice this 
figure requires when they read. 

This inflexion of voice, however, which distin- 
guishes the interrogation, seems entirely confined to 
those questions which are formed without the interro- 
gative pronouns or adverbs. When a question com- 
mences with one of these, it has invariably the same 
inflexion as the declarative sentence, unless we have 
either not heard, or mistaken an answer just given us; 
for in that case, the emphasis is placed upon the 
interrogative word : and the voice elevated by the 
rising inflexion on the end of the sentence. Thus, if 
we say simply, When do you go to college ? the word 
college has the falling inflexion, and the voice is no 
more elevated than if, being acquainted with the 
time, we should say, At that time IJind you go to col- 
lege ; but if we have mistaken the -answer that has 
been given us concerning the time, we say, Wh6n do 
you go to college ? we lay a considerable stress upon 
the word when, and suspend the voice with the rising 
inflexion at the end of the sentence. 

Again, if we ask a question without previous con- 
versation, or reference to any thing that has passed, 
if we do not use the interrogative words, we infallibly 
use the rising inflexion, and elevate the voice on the 
end of the question ; thus we meet, and say — Are you 
going to college ? — if we have the least eagerness for 
information, the voice is elevated and suspended with 
the rising inflexion on the last word ; but if the per- 
son we speak to, either does not hear, or else mistakes 
what we say, so as to make it necessary to repeat the 
question, we then adopt the falling inflexion on the 
last word, and, giving it some degree of emphasis, 
say, Are you going to college ? with the same inflexion 
of voice, and in nearly the same tone, with which we 
should say simply, You are now going to college ; with 
this difference only, that in the latter case the voice 
falls into a lower tone, and in the former seems to rest 
in the tone of the sentence, somewhat louder, perhaps, 



124 ELEMENTS OF 

but with exactly the same falling inflexion as the lat- 
ter, and entirely different from that upward turn of 
voice which distinguishes the first question. 

Thus we find the immediate repetition of the same 
question requires a different inflexion of voice accord- 
ing to its form. When we ask a question commenc- 
ing with an interrogative word, we use the falling 
inflexion on the last word, as — When do you go to 
college ? When, from a mistake of the answer about 
the time, we repeat the question, we use the rising 
inflexion of voice, and elevate it to the end, as — 
JVhe'n do you go to college ? On the contrary, when 
we first ask a question without the interrogative word, 
we use the rising inflexion, and raise the voice on the 
last word, as — Are you going to college ? and when 
we repeat the question, we use the falling inflexion 
of voice on the last word ; and though we may 
pronounce the last word louder than the rest, we do 
not use the rising inflexion as in the former case, but 
the falling, as — / say, are you going to college ? 

But such is the variety of this species of sentence, 
that a question may be asked without either the inter- 
rogative words, or an inversion of the arrangement, 
or the rising inflexion of voice on the last word : for 
instead of saying, Do you intend to read that booh ? 
with the rising inflexion on the word book, we may, 
with the same expectation of an answer, use the same 
inflexion on the same word, and say, You intend to 
read that booh ? — Both sentences will be equally in- 
terrogatory, though the last seems distinguished from 
the first, by implying less doubt of what we ask ; for 
when we say, You intend to read that booh ? with the 
rising inflexion on the word booh, we have not so 
much doubt about the reading of it as when we say, 
Do you intend to read that booh ? with the same in- 
flexion on the same word ; and accordingly we find 
the voice more elevated at the end of the question 
where there is more doubt implied ; and where the 
doubt is small, the voice is less elevated at the end ; 



ELOCUTION. 125 

though, in both cases, the same kind of inflexion is 
inviolably preserved ; for the question — You intend to 
read that b6ok ? with the rising inflexion on the word 
booh, is equivalent to the interrogative affirmation ; 
I suppose you intend to read that bdoh ? both of which 
we find naturally terminate in a suspension of voice, 
as if an ellipsis had been made, and part of the ques- 
tion omitted ; for these questions end in exactly the 
same inflexion of voice which the same words would 
have in the question at length — You intend to read 
that bdoh, do you not ? — that is, in the suspension of 
voice called the rising inflexion, similar to that 
usually marked by the comma. Not but this very 
phrase, You intend to read that booh, pronounced with 
the falling inflexion on the last word like a declara- 
tive sentence, might have the import of a question, if 
attended with such circumstances as implied a doubt 
in the speaker, and required an answer from the 
hearer: though this mode of speaking would, per- 
haps, imply the least degree of doubt possible, yet as 
some degree of doubt might be implied, it must ne- 
cessarily be classed with the interrogation. 

Having premised these observations, it may be 
necessary to take notice, that with respect to pronun- 
ciation, all questions may be divided into two classes ; 
namely, into such as are formed by the interrogative 
pronouns or adverbs, and into such as are formed only 
by an inversion of the common arrangement of the 
words : the first with respect to inflexion of voice, 
except in the cases already mentioned, may be con- 
sidered as purely declarative ; and like declarative 
sentences they require thefalling inflexion at the end: 
and the last, with some few exceptions, require the 
rising inflexion of voice on the last word ; and it is 
this rising inflexion at the end which distinguishes 
them from almost every other species of sentence. 
Of both these in their order. 



126 ELEMENTS OF 



The Question with the Interrogative Words. 



o 



Rule I. When an interrogative sentence commences 
with any of the interrogative pronouns or adverbs, 
with respect to inflexion, elevation, or depression 
of voice, it is pronounced exactly like a declarative 
sentence. 

EXAMPLES. 

How can he exalt his thoughts to any thing great and noble, who 
only believes that after a short turn on the stage of this world, he 
is to sink into oblivion, and to lose his consciousness for ever. 

Spectator, No. 210. 

As an illustration of the rule, we need only alter 
two or three of the words to reduce it to a declarative 
sentence ; and we shall find the inflexion, elevation, 
and depression of voice upon every part of it the same. 

He cannot exalt his thoughts to any thing great or noble, because 
he only believes that after a short turn on the stage of this world, he 
is to sink into oblivion, and to lose his consciousness for ever. 

Here we perceive, that the two sentences, though 
one is an interrogation, and the other a declaration, 
end both with the same inflexion of voice, and that 
the falling inflexion ; but if we convert these words 
into an interrogation, by leaving out the interrogative 
word, we shall soon perceive the difference. 

Can he exalt his thoughts to any thing great or noble, who only 
believes that after a short turn on the stage of this world he is to 
sink into oblivion, and to lose his consciousness for ever? 

In pronouncing this sentence with propriety, we 
find the voice slide upwards on the last words, con- 
trary to the inflexion it takes in the two former 
examples. — If grammarians, therefore, by the eleva- 



ELOCUTION. 127 

vation of voice, which they attribute to the question, 
mean the rising inflexion, their rule, with some few 
exceptions, is true only of questions formed without 
the interrogative words ; for the others, though they 
may have a force and loudness on the last words, if 
they happen to be emphatical, have no more of that 
distinctive inflexion which is peculiar to the former 
kind of interrogation, than if they were no questions 
at all. Let us take another example : — fVhy should 
not a female character be as ridiculous in a man, as a 
male character in one of the female sex ? Here the 
voice is no more elevated at the end than if I were to 
say, A female character is just as ridiculous in a man 
as a male character in one of the female sex ; but if I 
say, Is not a female character as ridiculous in a man 
as a male character in one of the fe'male sex ? — here 
not only the emphasis, but the rising inflexion, is on 
the last words; essentially different from the inflexion 
on these words in the first question, Why should not a 
female character be as ridiculous in a man, as a male 
character in one ofthefemale sex ? We may presume, 
therefore, that it is the emphasis, with which these 
questions sometimes terminate, that has led the gene- 
rality of grammarians to conclude, that all questions 
terminate in an elevation of voice, and so to confound 
that essential difference there is between a question 
formed with and without the interrogative words. 

Rule II. Interrogative sentences commencing with 
interrogative words, and consisting, of members in a 
series depending necessarily on each other for sense, 
are to be pronounced as a series of members, of the 
same kind in^a declarative sentence. 



EXAMPLES. 

From whence can he produce such cogent exhortations to the 
practice of every virtue, such ardent excitements to piety and devo- 
tion, and such assistance to attain them, as those which are to be 
met with throughout every page of these inimitable writings ? 

Jenyns's View of the Internal Evid. p. 41. 



128 ELEMENTS OF 

Where, amidst the dark clouds of pagan philosophy, can he show 
us such a clear prospect of a future state, the immortality of the 
sbul, the resurrection of the dead, and the general judgment, as in 
St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians ? — Sped. 

But to consider the Paradise Lost only as it regards our present 
subject j what can be conceived greater than the battle of angels, 
the majesty of Messiah, the stature and behaviour of Satan and his 
peers ? what more beautiful than Pandemonium, Paradise, Heaven, 
A'ngels, A'dam, and EVe ? what more strange than the creation of 
the wbrld, the several metamorphoses of the fallen angels, and the 
surprising adventures their leader meets with in his search after 
paradise ? Ibid. No. 417. 

In these sentences we find exactly the same pauses 
and inflexions of voice take place as in the different 
series of declarative sentences ; that is, the first 
example is to be pronounced as in Rule III. of the 
Compound Series, p. 105 ; the second as in Rule V. 
p. 106 ; and the last example being a Series of Se- 
rieses, must be pronounced according to the rules 
laid down under that article, p. 110. 

But the question which in reading and speaking 
produces the greatest force and variety, is that which 
is formed without the interrogative words. 



The Question without the Interrogative Words. 

Rule I. When interrogative sentences are formed 
without the interrogative words, the last word must 
have the rising inflexion. If there be an emphatical 
word in the last member, followed by several words 
depending on it, which conclude the sentence, both 
the emphatical word and the concluding words are 
to be pronounced with the rising inflexion : thus the 
words making one, and cause of the shipwreck, in 
the two following examples, have all the rising in- 
flexion. 



ELOCUTION. 129 



EXAMPLES. 

Would it not employ a beau prettily enough if, instead of eter- 
nally playing with his snuff-box, he spent some part of his time in 
making one ? Spectator, No. 43. 

If the owner of a vessel had fitted it out with every thing neces- 
sary, and provided to the utmost of his power against the dangers 
of the sea, and that a storm should afterwards arise and break the 
masts, would any one in that case accuse him of being the cduse of 
the shipwreck ? Demosthenes on the Crown. Rollin. 

In these examples, we find, that, however variously 
the voice may employ^ itself on the rest of the sen- 
tence, the concluding words in the last member must 
necessarily be suspended with the rising inflexion : 
the only exception to this rule is, when these inter- 
rogative sentences are connected by the disjunctive 
or ; for in that case the sentence or sentences that 
succeed the conjunction are pronounced as if they 
were formed by the interrogative words, or were 
merely declarative. 

Rule II. When interrogative sentences connected 
by the disjunctive or, succeed each other, the first 
ends with the rising, and the rest with the falling in- 
flexion. . 

EXAMPLES. 

Shall we in your person crdwn the author of the public calami- 
ties, or shall we destroy him ? Machines on the Crown. Rollin, 

Is the goodness, or wisdom of the divine Being, more manifested 
in this his proceeding ? Spect. No. 519. 

But should these credulous infidels after all be in the right, and 
this pretended revelation be all a fable, from believing it what harm 
could ensue ? Would it render princes more tyrannical, or subjects 
more ungovernable ? The rich more insolent, or the poor more dis- 
orderly ? — Would it make worse parents, or children ; husbands or 
wives ,- masters or servants j friends or neighbours ; or would ic not 
make men more virtuous, and, consequently, more happy in every 
situation ? Jenyns's View of the Internal Evidence, p. 107. 

K 



130 ELEMENTS OF 

In the two former of these examples, we find the 
disjunctive or necessarily direct the voice in the last 
member of each to the falling inflexion ; and in the 
third example, we have not only an instance of the 
diversity of voice on the several questions according 
to their form, but an illustration of the exception 
formed by the conjunctive or ; for in the former part 
of this passage, where it is used conjunctively, it does 
not occasion any more alteration of the voice on the 
word ensue than any other conjunctive word ; but 
when used disjunctively, as in the last member of 
the question commencing at — -or it would not make 
men more virtuous, &c. — we find it very properly 
change the tone of voice from the interrogative to 
the declarative ; that is, from the rising to the falling 
inflexion. 

Rule III. Interrogative sentence, without interro- 
gative words, when consisting of a variety of members 
necessarily depending on each other for sense, admit 
of every tone, pause, and inflexion of voice, common 
to other sentences, provided the last member, on 
which the whole question depends, has that peculiar 
elevation and inflexion of voice which distinguishes 
this species of interrogation. 

EXAMPLE. 

But can we believe a thinking being, that is in a perpetual progress 
of improvements, and travelling on from perfection to perfection, 
after having just looked abroad into the works of its Creator, and 
made a few discoveries of his infinite goodness, wisdom, and power, 
must perish at her first setting 5ut, and in the very beginning of her 
inquiries. Sped. No. 111. 

In reading this passage we shall find, that placing 
the falling inflexion without dropping the voice on 
the words improvements and Creator, will not onry 
prevent the monotony which is apt to arise from too 
long a suspension of the voice, but enforce the sense 
by enumerating, as it were, the several particulars of 
which the question consists. 



E LOCUTION. 131 



EXAMPLE. 



Do you think that Themistocles, and the heroes who were killed 
in the battles of Marathon and Platea ; do you think the very tombs 
of your ancestors will not send forth groans, if you crown a man, 
who, by his own confession, has been for ever conspiring with bar- 
barians to ruin Greece ? /Eschines on the Crown. Rollin. 

This passage will be rendered much more forcible 
and harmonious, if, instead of suspending the voice 
throughout, we make use of the falling inflexion, 
without dropping the voice on the words Platea and 
confession. 



Rule TV. Interrogative sentences formed without 
the interrogative words, and consisting of members in 
a series, which form perfect sense as they proceed, 
must have every member terminate with the inflexion 
of voice peculiar to this species of interrogation. 

EXAMPLES. 

And with regard to the unhappy Lacedaemonians, what calamities 
have not befallen them for taking only a small part of the spoils of 
the temple ? they who formerly assumed a superiority over Greece, 
are they not now going to send ambassadors to Alexander's cdurt, to 
bear the name of hostages in his train, to become a spectacle of 
misery, to bow the knee before the monarch, submit themselves and 
their country to his mercy, and receive such laws as a c5nqueror — 
a conqueror they attacked first, shall think fit to prescribe them ? 

^JEschines on the Croivn. Rollin. 

It need scarcely be observed, that in order to pre- 
vent the monotony to which this passage is very liable 
in reading, we ought to begin the first question as 
soft as possible, that the voice may pronounce them 
all with an increasing force to the last. 

But did you, O — (what title shall I give you !) did you betray the 
least shadow of displeasure against me, when I broke the chords of 
that harmony in your presence, and dispossessed the commonwealth 
of the advantages of that confederacy, which you magnify so much 



132 ELEMENTS OF 

with the loudest strains of your theatrical vdice ? did you ascend 
the rdstrum ? did you denounce, or once explain those crimes, with 
which you are ndw pleased to charge me ? 

Demosthenes on the Crown. Rollin. 

In this and the preceding sentence, we shall find 
the ear relieved, and the sense greatly enforced, by 
placing the falling inflexion with emphasis on a high 
tone of voice on the words conqueror ', first \ and ex- 
plain, according to Rule III. 

Would an infinitely wise Being make such glorious beings for so 
me*an a purpose ? can he delight in the production of such abdrtive 
intelligence, such shdrt-lived reasonable beings ? would he give us 
talents that are not to be exerted, capacities that are not to be 
gratified ? Sped. No. 111. 

In the reading of every series here produced, it will 
be necessary to increase the force at the same time 
that we preserve the rising inflexion on the last word 
or member of every one. 

One exception to this rule is, when a series of ques- 
tions and answers follow each other : for in this case, 
though the first is elevated as in other interrogations, 
not commencing with interrogative words, the rest of 
the questions assume the declarative tone, and fall 
gradually into a period. 

EXAMPLE. 

As for the particular occasion of these (charity) schools, there can- 
not any offer more worthy a generous mind. Would you do a hand- 
some thing without return ? — do it for an infant that is not sensible 
of the obligation ? Would you do it for the public good ? — do it for 
one who will be an honest artificer ? Would you do it for the sake 
of heaven ? — give it for one who shall be instructed in the worship 
of Him for whose sake you gave it ? Spectator, No. 294. 

In this exampje there is evidently an opposition in 
the interrogations which is equivalent to the disjunc- 
tive or ; and if the ellipsis were supplied, which this 
opposition suggests, the sentence would run thus : 



ELOCUTION. 133 

1} you will not do a handsome thing without return, 
would you do it for the public good? and if not for the 
public good, would you do it for the sake of' heaven? so 
that this exception may be said to come under Rule 
II. of this article. 

This rule may throw a light upon a passage in 
Shakspeare, very difficult to pronounce with variety, 
if we terminate every question with the rising inflex- 
ion, which, however, must necessarily be the case, as 
the questions do not imply opposition to, or exclusion 
of each other. The passage referred to is in Henry 
V. where that monarch, after the discovery of the 
conspiracy against him, thus expostulates with lord 
Scroope, who was concerned in it : 

Oh how hast thou with jealousy infected 
The sweetness of affiance ! show men dutiful ! 
Why so didst thou : or seem they grave and learned ? 
Why so didst thou : come they of noble family ? 
Why so didst thou : seem they religious ? 
Why so didst thou : or are they spare in diet ; 
Free from gross passion or of mirth or anger ; 
Constant in spirit, not swerving with the bldod 
Garnish'd and deek'd in modest compliment, 
Not working with the eye without the ear, 
And but in purged judgment trusting neither ? 
Such and so finely boulted didst thdu seem. 

In pronouncing this passage, it should seem most 
eligible to use the rising inflexion at the end of the 
several questions ; but alter the four first, the falling 
inflexion seems very properly adopted on the word 
diet, as this is the first branch of the last series of 
questions ; and as this series continues for several 
lines, provided the voice be but inflected upwards on 
the last member at neither, the rest of the parts may 
be pronounced as is most suitable to the sense and 
harmony of the whole, according to Rule III. of this 
article. 

The necessity of attending to the distinction of in- 
flexion, when things are distinguished and opposed to 



134 ELEMENTS OF 

each other, will appear more clearly from the fol- 
lowing passage : 



See Falkland dies, the virtuous and the just ; 
See god-like Turenne prostrate on the dust; 
See Sydney bleeds amid the martial strife; 
Was this their virtue or contempt of life? 

Essay on Man, Ep. iv. v. 99. 



If, in reading this passage, the voice were to adopt 
the same inflexion both on virtue and on contempt of 
life, and to end the last branch of the question as well 
<as the first with the rising inflexion, the distinction, 
so strongly marked by the sense, would be utterly 
lost, whereas, if we end virtue with the rising, and 
life with the falling inflexion, the distinction evidently 
appears. But in the following passage from Shak- 
speare we have an instance of the necessity of a con- 
trary mode of pronunciation, arising from a similitude 
of objects connected by the disjunctive or: 



Is this the nature, 
Which passion should not shake ? whose solid virtue, 
The shot of accident, or dart of chance, 
Could neither raze nor pierce ? Othello, 



In this passage, the shot of accident, and the dart of 
chance, being only different words for the same thing, 
the word or conjoins them ; and to avoid any impli- 
cation that they may mean different things, the same 
inflexion of voice ought to be on them both, that is 
the rising inflexion : but in the last member, where 
the opposition is evident, both from the sense of the 
words, and the disjunctive nor, the falling inflexion 
ought to be laid on raze, and the rising on pierce. 

For the same reason, in reading the following stanza 
of Gray's Elegy in a Country Church-yard, it should 
seem by much the most eligible method to suspend 
the voice with the rising inflexion on the word death : 



ELOCUTION. 135 

Canstory'd urn, or animated bust, 

Back to its mansion call the fleeting bre"ath r 

Can honour's voice provoke the silent dust, 
Or flatt'ry sooth the dull cold ear of death ? 

As the sense of the word ot\ that is, whether it 
means conjunction or disjunction, is not always very 
obvious, it may not be useless to propose the follow- 
ing rule : if we are in doubt whether or is conjunc- 
tive or disjunctive, let us make use of this paraphrase 
if it is not so, is it so ? and if the sense will bear 
this paraphrase, the or is disjunctive, and the subse- 
quent question ought to have the falling inflexion: if 
it will not bear it, the or is conjunctive, and the sub- 
sequent question ought to have the rising inflexion. 
Thus if we paraphrase the stanza just quoted, we 
shall find the or conjunctive. If storied urn cannot 
call back the fleeting breath, can animated bust call it 
bach? If honour's voice cannot provoke the silent dust, 
can flattery sooth the dull cold ear of death? 

If this paraphrase does not seem suitable to the 
general import of the sentence, it is because the ob- 
jects are not put in opposition or contradistinction to 
each other, and therefore that the or is conjunctive, 
and, consequently, that the latter question requires 
the rising inflexion as well as the former: but where 
the or is disjunctive, we find this paraphrase very 
suitable to the general import of the sentence : 

But should these credulous infidels after all be in the right, and 
this pretended revelation be all a fable ; from believing it what harm 
could ensue ? would it render princes more tyrannical, or subjects 
more ungdvernable, the rich more insolent, or the poor more disor- 
derly ? Would it make worse parents, or children, husbands, or 
wives; masters, or servants, friends, or neighbours ? or would it not 
make men more virtuous, and, consequently, more happy in every 
situation ? Jenyns. 

If we try the paraphrase upon the former parts of 
this sentence, we shall find it as repugnant to the 



136 ELEMENTS OF 

sense as in the former example ; but if we apply it 
to the last member, we shall find it perfectly accord 
with the meaning of the author. Thus, if we say — 
If it will not make worse parents or children, husbands 
or wives, masters or servants, friends or neighbours ; 
will it not make men more virtuous, and, consequently, 
more happy in every situation ?— from whence we may 
conclude that in the former part of this passage, the 
or is conjunctive, and suspends the voice at the end 
of every member, and that the last or is disjunctive, 
and requires the sentence to end with the falling in- 
flexion. 

In passages of this kind, therefore, it seems quite 
necessary to attend to the distinction of inflexion here 
laid down : and it may be farther observed, that the 
sense of a passage will always be more clearly under- 
stood by attending to this distinction, though there 
may not be always the same necessity for it. Thus 
in the following passage : 

One great use of prepositions in English, is to express those rela- 
tions, which, in some languages, are chiefly marked by cases, or the 
different endings of the noun. 

Here, though the word cases ends the penultimate 
member, yet, as the last member must have the fall- 
ing inflexion, the word cases must have the falling 
likewise; for as here the word or is very different 
from the or preceded by either in this sentence, All 
languages express the relations of nouns either by pre- 
positions or cases ; so it seems to intimate a different 
pronunciation ; and as in the last example the words 
prepositions and cases are opposed to each other, and 
for that reason require different inflexions ; so, in the 
former, a sameness of inflexion on both the parts con- 
nected by or, seems better to preserve that sameness 
of idea which each of these parts conveys. 

These examples serve to discover a great and na- 
tural source of that variety and precision which we 



ELOCUTION. 137 

so much admire in good readers and speakers. So 
many more instances might have been produced, 
that these remarks might have justly formed a se- 
parate article; but they seemed to belong more par- 
ticularly to the interrogation, as here we view the 
force of contrast in a stronger light; here we see, 
that though the interrogation, without the interroga- 
tive w T ords, necessarily requires the rising inflexion, 
yet when one part of this interrogation is distinctly 
opposed to, or contrasted with the other, these parts 
require opposite inflexions of voice ; and it may, 
without hesitation, be pronounced, that similar in- 
flexions of voice upon similar members or members in 
apposition, and opposite inflexions of voice upon oppo- 
site words, or words opposed to, or contradistinguished 
from each other in sense, are as congenial and essen- 
tial to language as the marking of different things by 
different words. 

And here it were to be wished we could conclude 
this article without a mention of those exceptions, 
which are so apt to discourage inquirers into this 
subject, and induce them to conclude that there is 
nothing like rule or method in reading or speaking : 
but it ought to be remembered, that though there are 
numerous exceptions to almost every rule in gram- 
mar, we do not from this conclude, that grammar 
has no rules at all ; in subjects where custom has so 
extensive an influence, and where nature seems to 
vary expression for the sake of variety, if such rules 
can be drawn put as have a great majority of in- 
stances in their favour, we may certainly conclude 
that this, as well as every other department of lan- 
guage, is not without fixed and settled rules. 

That rule which directs us to suspend the voice 
with the rising inflexion at the end of a question 
formed without the interrogative words, is, perhaps, 
as general, and as well founded, as any rule in lan- 
guage ; but the ear, which is disgusted at too long a 



138 ELEMENTS OF 

suspension of voice, when the question is drawn out 
to a considerable length, often for the sake of a better 
sound, converts the interrogative into the declarative 
tone, and concludes a question of this kind with the 
falling inflexion: 

Thus there are few readers who would not con- 
clude the following question with the falling in- 
flexion : 



Do you think that Themistocles and the heroes who were killed in 
the battles of Marathon and Platea, do you think the very tombs or' 
your ancestors would not send forth groans, if you crown a man, 
who, by his own confession, has been for ever conspiring with bar- 
barians to ruin Greece ? 



If this question were considered as entirely de- 
tached from the rest of the subject, there is no doubt 
but the ear is much more gratified by this, than by 
an opposite pronunciation : but when we reflect, 
that by this pronunciation, though the ear is grati- 
fied, it is at the expense of that peculiar poignancy 
which the rising inflexion gives to this species of in- 
terrogation, we shall be less satisfied with the sacrifice 
we make to sound ; for though sound has its rights 
as well as sense, sense seems to have the first claim, 
especially in prose, and more particularly in this case, 
where the question loses all its force and vigour, un- 
less pronounced with its specific inflexion : besides, 
when we consider that in pronouncing a whole sub- 
ject to the best advantage, perhaps it is not necessary 
that every part should be so pronounced as to be by 
itself most agreeable to the ear, we shall perceive that 
it is possible some parts may be pronounced less har- 
moniously as parts, which may contribute greatly to 
the energy, variety, and even harmony of the whole ; 
as less agreeable passages, and even discords in music, 
are known to add greatly to the general beauty and 
effect of a whole composition. 



ELOCUTION. 139 

It must, however, be acknowledged, that some 
questions are so immoderately long, and, losing sight 
of the first object of interrogation, run into such a 
variety of after-thoughts, that, preserving the idea 
of the question all through, and ending it with the 
rising inflexion, would not only be very difficult and 
inharmonious, but in some measure prejudicial to 
the force and energy of the sense : when this is the 
case, changing the rising to the falling inflexion is 
certainly proper : and what fault there is in the want 
of correspondence between sense and sound, must be 
placed to the account of the composition : a reader, 
like a musical performer, perhaps, can cover a few 
blemishes in his author, by the elegance and delicacy 
of the tones he produces ; but all his art will not en- 
able him to make bad composition read as well as 
good ; or to make sense and sound accord in the 
reading, when they are at variance in the composi- 
tion. Thus in the following sentence : 



The Brigantines, even under a female leader, had force enough to 
burn the enemy's settlements, to storm their camps, and if success 
had not introduced negligence and inactivity, would have been able 
entirely to throw off the yoke : and shall not we, untouched, unsub- 
dued, and struggling, not for the acquisition, but the continuance of 
liberty, declare, at the very first onset, what kind of men Caledonia 
has reserved for her defence ? 



In reading this sentence, we find it difficult to give 
it all its necessary force and harmony, and at the 
same time pronounce the emphatical word Caledonia, 
and the following words, with the rising inflexion, as 
the nature of the question seems to demand ; on the 
other hand, if we lay the emphasis with the falling 
inflexion on the word Caledonia, the rising inflexion 
on reserved, and the falling on defence, the cadence 
will be harmoniously formed, and the sense will ap- 
pear greatly enforced ; but as this sense is not the 
precise and specific import of the interrogation, it 



140 ELEMENTS OF 

must be left to the reader's judgment which mode of 
pronunciation he will adopt. 

And here it may be worth observing, that ques- 
tions without the interrogative words, demanding the 
rising inflexion of voice, are always unfavourable to 
harmony when they end a branch of a subject com- 
monly denoted by the paragraph : and that if the ge- 
neral rule be violated, this position of the question 
seems the best apology for it ; as concluding a ques- 
tion of this kind with the rising inflexion seems to 
leave a demand unanswered, and the branch of the 
subject imperfect ; but if the question does not end 
the paragraph, but is either directly answered by the 
speaker, or followed by something so immediately 
connected with it as to remove the suspense of wait- 
ing for an answer ; if this is the case, I say, let the 
train of questions be ever so numerous, it seems quite 
necessary to conclude with the rising inflexion. 



EXAMPLE. 

Consider, I beseech you, what was the part of a faithful citizen ? 
of a prudent, an active, and an honest minister ? Was he not to 
secure Euboea as our defence against all attacks by sea ? Was he 
not to make Boeotia our barrier on the midland side ? The cities 
bordering upon Peloponnesus our bulwark on that quarter ? Was he 
not to attend with due precaution to the importation of corn, that 
this trade might be protected through all its progress up to our own 
harbours ? Was he not to cover those districts which we commanded 
by seasonable detachments, as the Proconesus, the Chersonesus, and 
Tenedos ? To exert himself in the assembly for this purpose ? While 
with equal zeal he laboured to gain others to our interest and alli- 
ance, as Byzantium, Abydus, and Euboea ? Was he not to cut off 
the best, and most important resources of our enemies, and to sup- 
ply those in which our country was defective ? — And all this you 
gained by my counsels and my administration. 

Leland's Demosthenes. 



In pronouncing this passage, we And no method 
so proper as that of annexing the rising inflexion to 
every single question ; and as they are not final, but 
are closed by a sentence with the falling inflexion, 



ELOCUTION. 141 

the whole comes forcibly to the mind and agreeably 
to the ear, instead of that hiatus, both in sense and 
sound, with which the former sentence concludes 
when we finish it with the rising inflexion. 

It may be observed, likewise, that when questions 
are succeeded by answers, it will be necessary to raise 
the voice in the rising inflexion on the question, and 
after a considerable pause to pronounce the answer in 
a lower tone of voice, that they may be better distin- 
guished from each other. 

EXAMPLE. 

My departure is objected to me, which charge I cannot answer 
without commending myself. For what must I say ? That 1 fled 
from a consciousness of guilt ? But what is charged upon me as a 
crime, was so far from being a fault, that it is the most glorious 
action since the memory of man. That I feared being called to an 
account by the people ? That was never talked of ; and if it had 
been done, I should have come off with double hbnour. That 1 
wanted the support of good and honest m£n ? That is false. That 
I was afraid of death ? That is a calumny. I must, therefore, say 
what I would not, unless compelled to it, that I withdrew to preserve 
the city. Cicero. 



In pronouncing this passage, we shall find it ab- 
solutely necessary, both for the vivacity of the ques- 
tions, and to distinguish them from the answers, to 
pronounce the former in a higher, and the latter in a 
lower tone of voice, and to make a very long pause 
after each question. 

It seems necessary only to make one observation 
more before we close this article ; and that is, that 
as questions of this kind, which demand the rising 
inflexion at the end, especially when they are drawn 
out to any length, are apt to carry the voice into a 
higher key than is either suitable or pleasant, too 
much care cannot be taken to keep the voice down, 
when we are pronouncing the former parts of a long 
question, and the commencing question of a long 
succession of questions ; for as the characteristic pro- 



142 ELEMENTS OF 

nunciation of these questions is, to end with the rising 
inflexion, provided we do but terminate with this, the 
voice may creep on in a low and almost sameness of 
tone till the end ; and then if the voice is not agree- 
able in a high key, which is the case with the gene- 
rality of voices, the last word of the whole may be 
pronounced with the rising inflexion, in nearly the 
same low key in which the voice commences. 

Perhaps it may not be entirely useless to take no- 
tice of a very common mistake of printers, which is 
annexing the note of interrogation to such sentences 
as are not really interrogative, and which include a 
question only imperatively. Such are the following : 



Presumptuous man ! the reason would'st thou find, 
Why form'd so weak, so little, and so blind ? 
First, if thou canst, the harder reason guess, 
Why form'd no weaker, blinder, and no less. 
Ask of thy mother, earth, why oaks are made 
Taller or stronger than the weeds they shade ? 
Or ask of yonder argent fields above, 
Why Jove's satellites are less than Jove ? 

Popes Essay on Man, Ep. i. v. 35. 



In this passage we find the first couplet very pro- 
perly marked with the note of interrogation, and the 
second couplet as properly left without it. But the 
third couplet, which is no more a question than the 
second, has a note of interrogation annexed to it ; 
and the fourth, which is perfectly similar to the third, 
is marked with a note of interrogation likewise. 



Exclamation. 

This note is appropriated by grammarians to in- 
dicate that some passion or emotion is contained in 
the words to which it is annexed ; and it may, there- 
fore, be looked upon as essentially distinct from the 
rest of the points ; the office of which is commonly 



ELOCUTION. 143 

% 

supposed to be that of fixing or determinating the 
sense only. Whether a point that indicates passion or 
emotion, without determining what emotion or pas- 
sion is meant, or if we had points expressive of every 
passion or emotion, whether this would, in common 
usage, more assist or embarrass the elocution of the 
reader, I shall not at present attempt to decide ; 
but when this point is applied to sentences which, 
from their form, might be supposed to be merely in- 
terrogative, and yet really imply wonder, surprise, or 
astonishment ; when this use, 1 say, is made of the 
note of exclamation, it must be confessed to be of no 
small importance in reading, and very justly to de- 
serve a place in grammatical punctuation. 

Thus the sentence, How mysterious are the ways of 
Providence ! which naturally adopts the exclamation, 
may, by a speaker who denies these mysteries, be- 
come a question, by laying a stress on the word how, 
and subjoining the note of interrogation ; as, How 
mysterious are the ways of Providence ? Upon hear- 
ing a piece of music, we may cry out with rapture, 
What harmony is that ! or we may use the words to 
inquire What harmony is that ? that is, what kind 
of harmony. The very different import, then, of 
these sentences, as they are differently pointed, suffi- 
ciently show the utility of the note of exclamation. 

So little, however, is this distinction attended to, 
that we seldom see a sentence commencing with the 
interrogative words marked with any thing but the 
note of interrogation, however distant the meaning of 
the sentence may be from doubt or inquiry. 

Thus Mr. Addison, speaking of the necessity of 
exercise, says — 

The earth must be laboured before it gives its increase ; and when 
it is forced into its several products, how many hands must they 
pass through before they are fit for use ? Spectator, No. 115. 

And this passage, in all the editions of the Spec- 
tator I have seen, is marked with a note ofinterroga- 



144 ELEMENTS OF 

tion. Another writer in the Spectator, speaking of 
the grandeur and beauty of heaven, says — 

How great must be the majesty of that place, where the whole art 
of creation has been employed, and where God has chosen to show 
himself in the most magnificent manner ? Spectator, No. 580. 

Instances of this mistake are innumerable ; and yet 
it is as clear as any thing in language, that these pas- 
sages ought not to be marked with the interrogation, 
but with the exclamation point. — It may be urged, 
indeed, in extenuation of this fault, that the note of 
interrogation is not always very easy to be distin- 
guished from the note of exclamation ; and when this 
is the case, a mistake is not of any great importance 
to the reader ; for we may be sure that question which 
may be mistaken for an exclamation, whatever tone 
or passion it may demand, can never require any in- 
flexion of voice on the last word, but that which the 
question itself requires, which is the falling inflexion. 
— It will however, be necessary to take notice of an 
exception to this rule, which is, when the exclama- 
tion comes immediately after a question, and, as it 
were, repeats it ; for, in this case, the repeated ques- 
tion, which is really an exclamation, assumes the 
rising inflexion. 

EXAMPLE. 

Will you for ever, Athenians, do nothing but walk up and down 
the city, asking one another, What news ? What n6ws ! Is there any 
thing more new than to see a man of Macedonia become master of 
the Athenians, and give laws to all Greece? 

Demosthenes First Philippic, Rollin. 

In this passage we find the first question including 
the last, and, being formed without the interrogative 
words, requires the rising inflexion ; and as the sen- 
tence of admiration, What news ! immediately fol- 
lows, it exactly imitates the object it ironically ad- 
mires. This inflexion of the note of admiration is 
not confined to the repetition of this inflexion in the 



ELOCUTION. 145 

foregoing question ; for if a question is asked with 
the interrogative words, and, consequently, with the 
falling inflexion, if we immediately echo the question, 
and turn it into an admiration, the voice necessarily 
adopts the rising inflexion before described. Thus 
when Pope inquires into the place where happiness 
resides, he says — 

Plant of celestial seed, if drop'd below, 
Say in what mortal soil thou deign'st to grow : 
Fair op'ning to some court's propitious shine, 
Or deep with diamonds in the flaming mine? 
Twin'd with the wreaths Parnassian laurels yield, 
Or reap'd in iron harvests of the field ? 
Where grdws ? where grows it nbt ? if vain our toil, 
We ought to blame the culture, not the soil. 

Pope's Essay on Man, b. iv. 

Here the phrase, where grows, assumes the rising 
inflexion, and ought to be marked with the note of 
exclamation. 

It may not be entirely useless to take notice of a 
common error of grammarians ; which is, that both 
this point and the interrogation require an elevation 
of voice. The inflexion of voice proper to one 
species of question, which, it is probable, gramma- 
rians may have mistaken for an elevation of voice, it 
is presumed has been fully explained under that 
article : by the elevation of voice they attribute to 
this point, it is not unlikely that they mean the pa- 
thos or energy with which we usually express passion 
or emotion ; but which is, by no means, inseparably 
connected with elevation of voice : were we even to 
suppose, that all passion or emotion necessarily as- 
sumes a louder tone, it must still be acknowledged 
this is very different from a higher tone of voice, and 
therefore that the common rule is very fallacious 
and inaccurate. 

The truth is, the expression of passion or emotion 
consists in giving a distinct and specific quality to 
the sounds we use, rather than in increasing or dimi- 

L 



146 ELEMENTS OF 

msh ing their quantity, or in giving this quantity any 
local direction upwards or downwards : understand- 
ing the import of a sentence, and expressing that 
sentence with passion and emotion, are things as dis- 
tinct as the head and the heart : this point, therefore, 
though useful to distinguish interrogation from emo- 
tion, is as different from the rest of the points as 
Grammar is from Rhetoric ; and whatever may be 
the tone of voice proper to the note of exclamation, it 
is certain the inflexions it requires are exactly the 
same as the rest of the points ; that is, if the excla- 
mation point is placed after a member that would 
have the rising inflexion in another sentence, it ought 
to have the rising in this ; if after a member that 
would have the falling inflexion, the exclamation 
ought to have the falling inflexion likewise ; or if ex- 
clamation is mingled with a question, it requires the 
same inflexion the question would require, unless, as 
we have formerly observed, the question with the in- 
terrogative words is an echo of another question of 
the same kind, which, in this case, always requires 
the rising inflexion : and this exception, it may be 
observed, is perfectly agreeable to the general rule ; 
for a repetition of a question of this kind alters its 
form, and changes it in effect into a question without 
the interrogative word; as the member, where grows, 
in the last example, is equivalent to the sentence, Do 
you ask where it grows ; an ellipsis in the words, not 
altering in the least the import of the sentence. 

An instance, that the exclamation may be mixed 
with interrogations of both kinds, may be seen in the 
following speech of Gracchus, quoted by Cicero, and 
inserted in the Spectator, No. 541. 

Whither shall I turn? Wretch that I dm! to what place shall 
I betake myself ? Shall I go to the Capitol ? alas ! it is overflowed 
with my brother's blood I or shall I retire to my h5use ? yet there I 
behold my mother plunged in misery, weeping and despairing ! 

Every distinct portion of this passage may be truly 
said to be an exclamation \ and yet we find, in read- 



ELOCUTION. 147 

ing it, though it can scarcely be pronounced with too 
much emotion, the inflexions of voice are the same as 
if pronounced without any emotion at all : that is, 
the portion Whither shall I turn, terminates like a 
question with the interrogative word, with the falling 
inflexion. The member, Wretch that I am, like a 
member forming incomplete sense, with the rising 
inflexion; the question without the interrogative 
Shall I go to the Capitol, with the rising inflexion ; 
alas! it is overflowed with my brother's blood, with the 
falling: the question commencing with the disjunc- 
tive or, shall I retire to my house, with the falling 
inflexion, but in a lower tone of voice. 

Thus we see how vague and indefinite are the 
general rules for reading this point, for want of dis- 
tinguishing high and low tones of voice, from those 
upward and downward slides, which may be in any 
note of the voice, and which, from their radical dif- 
ference, form the most marking differences in pro- 
nunciation. 



Parenthesis. 

The parenthesis is defined by our excellent gram- 
marian, Dr. Lowth, to be a member of a sentence in- 
serted in the body of a sentence, which member is 
neither necessary to the sense, nor at all affects the 
construction. He observes, also, that in reading or 
speaking, it ought to have a moderate depression of 
the voice, and a pause greater than a comma. That 
is, perhaps, as just a definition of the parenthesis as 
could be given in so few words, and may serve to 
regulate our opinion of it when the marks of it in 
printing are either omitted or used improperly ; but 
several other particulars respecting this grammatical 
note may be remarked, which will tend greatly to 
acquaint us with the true nature of it, and show us 
how it may be pronounced to advantage. 

l 2 



148 ELEMENTS OF 

And first it may be observed, that the parenthesis 
seems to have been much under-rated by the gene- 
rality of writers on composition, who consider it 
rather as a blemish than an advantage to style, and 
have almost entirely prohibited the use of it. This, 
however, cannot be done without arraigning the taste 
of the best writers, both ancient and modern, who 
frequently make use of this figure of grammar, and 
often with great advantage : for though, when used 
injudiciously, it interrupts the course of the thought, 
and obscures the meaning ; yet sometimes it so hap- 
pily conveys a sentiment or stroke of humour, as to 
entitle it to no small merit among the grammatical 
figures, and to rank it even with those of oratory and 
eloquence. What, for example, can add greater 
force to a pathetic sentiment than a thought rising 
up from the fullness of the heart, as it were in the 
middle of another sentence ? What can add greater 
poignancy to a sally of wit, than conceiving it as 
springing naturally from the luxuriancy of the sub- 
ject without the least effort or premeditation of the 
writer ? What can give such importance to a tran- 
sient thought, as producing it in the negligence of an 
intervening member ; and how much is composition 
familiarised, and rendered natural and easy, by the 
judicious introduction of these transient unpreme- 
ditated thoughts ! This manner of conveying a 
thought makes us esteem it the more in proportion as 
the author seems to esteem it less ; and if, to this ad- 
vantage of the parenthesis, we add that of the con- 
ciseness of thought and variety of pronunciation, it 
sometimes bestows on the style and cadence of a 
sentence, we shall by no means think it a trifling or 
insignificant part of composition. 

But though the parenthesis has often an excellent 
effect both in composition and delivery, yet, when it 
is used too frequently, or extended to too great a 
length, it embarrasses the reader, and obscures rather 
than illustrates the meaning of the author ; for which 



ELOCUTION. 149 

reason we find good writers constantly avoid a long 
and complicated parenthesis. The best parenthesis, 
therefore, is the shortest ; for as the main current of 
the sentence is standing still while this intervening 
member is pronounced, the thread of the discourse is 
broken, and, if discontinued too long, is with difficulty 
taken up again. 

The real nature of the parenthesis once understood, 
we are at no loss for the true manner of delivering it. 
The tone of voice ought to be interupted, as it were, 
by something unforeseen ; and, after a pause, the 
parenthesis should be pronounced in a lower tone of 
voice, at the end of which, after another pause, the 
higher tone of voice, which w r as interrupted, should 
be resumed, that the connexion between the former 
and latter part of the interrupted sentence may be 
restored. It may be observed too, that in order to 
preserve the integrity of the principal members, the 
parenthesis onght not only to be pronounced in a 
lower tone, but a degree swifter than the rest of the 
period, as this still better preserves the broken sense, 
and distinguishes the explanation from the text. For 
that this is always the case in conversation, we can 
be under no doubt, when we consider, that whatever 
is supposed to make our auditors wait, gives an im- 
pulse to the tongue, in order to relieve them as soon 
as possible from the suspense of an occasional and 
unexpected interruption. 

Rule I. The most general rule is, that the paren- 
thesis always terminates with that pause and inflex- 
ion of voice with which the interrupted part of the 
sentence that precedes it is marked; for any closer 
connexion between the parenthesis and the latter, 
than between the parenthesis and the former part of 
the sentence, would form a fresh member, com- 
pounded of the parenthesis and the latter part, and 
by this means leave the former imperfect. Accord- 
ingly, when the member immediately preceding the 



150 ELEMENTS OF 

parenthesis ends with imperfect sense, or a comma 
and the rising inflexion (which is almost always the 
case), the parenthesis ends with a comma, and the 
rising inflexion likewise. 

EXAMPLE. 

Know ye not, brethren (for J speak to them that know the law), 
that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he Ifveth ? 

Rom. vii. 1. 

When it ends with perfect sense, generally marked 
with a colon, and consequently requires the falling 
inflexion of voice (which very seldom happens), the 
parenthesis ends with a colon and falling inflexion 
also. 

EXAMPLE. 

Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them with- 
out violence (for they feared the people, lest they should have been 
stbned) : and when they had brought them, they set them before the 
council.' Ads, v. 26. 27. 

But before we proceed to give other examples, it 
will be necessary to take notice, that though the 
pause and inflexion, terminating the parenthesis and 
the member that precedes it, may be said to be the 
same, it must still be understood to mean the same 
only as far as the difference of tone with which the 
parenthesis is pronounced will permit ; for if the 
parenthesis is to be pronounced in a low T er tone than 
the principal sentence, which seems universally 
allowed, the pause and inflexion of voice with which 
the parenthesis ends, must necessarily be pronounced 
lower than the same pauses and inflexions terminat- 
ing the preceding member ; but as this is only like 
reading the same sentence in a higher or lower, in a 
louder or softer tone (in all which modes of pro- 
nunciation the pauses and inflexions have an exact 
proportion, and are called the same, though different 
in some respects) ; so the higher and lower tone with 



ELOCUTION. 151 

which the same pause and inflexion are pronounced 
in and out of a parenthesis, may be so easily con- 
ceived, thatj perhaps, this observation may, by most 
readers, be thought superfluous. To resume there- 
fore the rule : 

A parenthesis must be pronounced in a lower tone 
of voice, and conclude with the same pause and in- 
flexion which terminate the member that imme- 
diately precedes it. 

EXAMPLES. 

Notwithstanding all this care of Cicero, history informs us, that 
Marcus proved a mere blockhead; and that ndture (who, it seems, 
v/as even with the son for her prodigality to the father) rendered 
him incapable of improving, by all the rules of eloquence, the pre- 
cepts of philbsophy, his own endeavours, and the most refined con- 
versation in 'Athens. Spectator, No. 307. 

Natural historians observe (for whilst I am in the Country I must 
fetch my allusions from thence) that only male birds have voices ; 
that their songs bes;in a little before breeding- time, and end 
a little after. Ibid. No. 128. 

Dr. Clark has observed, that Homer is more perspicuous than any 
other author ; but if he is so (which yet may be questioned) the 
perspicuity arises from his subject, and not from the language itself 
in which he writes. Ward's Grammar, p. 292. 

The many letters which come to me from persons of the best 
sense in bdth sexes (for I may pronounce their characters from their 
way of writing) do not a little encourage me in the prosecution of 
this my undertaking. Sped. No. 124. 

It is this sense which furnishes the imagination with its ideas : so 
that by the pleasures of the imagination or fancy (which I shall use 
promiscuously) I here mean such has arise from visible objects. 

Ibid. No. 411. 

In these examples, we find the parenthesis break 
in upon the sense ; but as the interruption is short, 
and is also distinguished from the body of the sen- 
tence by a different tone of voice, as well as by 
pauses, it does not in the least embarrass it. 



152 ELEMENTS OF 

But when parentheses are long, which is some- 
times the case in prose, and often in poetry, too 
much care cannot be taken to read them in so dif- 
ferent a tone of voice from the rest of the sentence, 
as may keep them perfectly separate and distinct: this 
is not only to be done by lowering the voice, and 
pronouncing the parenthesis more rapidly, but by 
giving a degree of monotone or sameness to the voice, 
which will, perhaps, distinguish the parenthesis, and 
keep it from mingling with what encloses it better 
than any of the other peculiarities. Let us take a 
few examples by way of praxis. 



Since then every sort of good which is immediately of importance 
to happiness, must be perceived by some immediate power or sense, 
antecedent to any opinions or reasoning (for it is the business of 
reason to compare the several sorts of good perceived by the several 
senses, and to find out the proper means for obtaining them), we 
must therefore carefully enquire into the several sublimer perceptive 
powers or senses ; since it is by them we best discover what state or 
course of life best answers the intention of God and nature, and 
wherein true happiness consists. 

Hutcheson's Moral Philosophy, book i. chap. i. seel. 5. 



If sometimes on account of virtue we should be exposed to such 
evils, which is sometimes the case (though men are much more fre- 
quently involved by their vices in such evils, and that in a more 
shameful base way), virtue can teach us to bear such evils with reso- 
lution, or to conquer them. Ibid. chap. ii. sect. 11. 

And although the diligent and active should not, without weighty 
causes, be any way restrained by their just acquisitions - f (and, in- 
deed the best sorts of democracy may allow them to acquire as much 
as can be requisite for any elegance or pleasure of life that a wise 
man could desire ;) yet we are never put in the balance with the 
liberty or safety of a people, the gratifying the vain ambition, lux- 
ury, or avarice of a few. Ibid, book iii. ch. vi. sect. 1. 

For these reasons, the senate and people of 'Athens (with due 
veneration to the gods and heroes, and guardians of the Athenian 
city and territory, whose aid they now implore ; and with due atten- 
tion to the virtue of their ancestors, to whom the general liberty of 
Greece was ever dearer than the particular interest of their own 



ELOCUTION. 153 

state) have resolved that a fleet of two hundred vessels shall be sent 
to sea, the admiral to cruise within the straits of Thermopylae. 

Leland's Demosthenes on the Crown, 

As to my own abilities in speaking (for T shall admit this charge, 
although experience hath convinced me, that what is called the 
power of eloquence depends for the most part upon the hearers, and 
that the characters of public speakers are determined by that degree 
of favour which you vouchsafe to each); if long practice, I say, 
hath given me any proficiency in speaking, you have ever found it 
devoted to my country. Ibidem. 

In these instances of the parenthesis it will be 
found very difficult to keep the main thread of the 
subject entire, unless we distinguish the intervening 
member by a pause, a lower tone of voice, and a 
somewhat swifter and less varied tone than what pre- 
cedes and follows; and we must never forget, that 
when the parenthesis is pronounced, the voice, after 
a short pause, must recover the higher tone it fell 
from, in order to preserve the connexion in the thought. 
Without these precautions it w T ill often be impossible 
to pronounce Milton so as to make him intelligible. 
That sublime and excursive genius is, like Homer, 
frequently, by the beauty of an intervening thought, 
carried so far out of the direct line of his subject, as 
to make it impossible for his reader to preserve the 
direct line, but by distinguishing those thoughts that 
vary from it by a different pronunciation. Let us ad- 
duce a few examples for practice. 

But what if he our conqueror (whom I now 
Of force believe almighty, since no less 
Than such could have o'erpower'd such force as 6urs) 
Have left us this our spirit and strength entire 
Strongly to suffer and support our pains? 

Paradise Lost, I. i. v . 143. 

His spear (to equal which the tallest pine 
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast 
Of some great admiral, were but a wand) 
He walk'd with to support uneasy steps 
Over the burning marie. 

Ibid. v. 292. 



154 ELEMENTS OF 

Know then, that after Lucifer from heav'n 
(So call him brighter once amidst the host 
Of angels than that star the stars among) 
Fell with his flaming legions through the deep 
Into his place, and the great Son return'd 
Victorious with his saints, th' omnipotent 
Eternal Father from his throne beheld 
Their muitidude, and to his Son thus speak. 

Ibid, book vii. v. 131. 



Round he surveys (and well might where he stood 
So high above the circling canopy 
Of night's extended shade) from eastern point 
Of Libra, to the fleecy star that bears 
Andromeda far off Atlantic seas 
Beyond the horizon. Ibid, book iii. v. 555. 



They anon 
With hundreds and with thousands trooping came 
Attended : all access was thronged ; the gates 
And porches wide, but chief the spacious hall 
(Though like a cover'd field, where champions bold 
Wont ride in arm'd, and at the soldan's chair 
Defy'd the best of Panim chivalry 
To mortal combat, or career with lance) 
Thick swarm'd both on the ground, and in the air 
Brush'd with the hiss of rustling wings. 

Ibid, book i. v. 758. 



Under this article, perhaps, may be arranged aside 
speeches of dramatic works, and all the intervening 
explanatory members in narrative writing: for both 
these species of members, like the parenthesis, require 
both a lower tone of voice, and a more rapid pronun- 
ciation, than the rest of the composition. 

It may not, perhaps, be improper to observe, that 
the small intervening members, says I, says he, con- 
tinned they, &c. not only follow the inflexion, but the 
tone of the member which precedes them : that is, 
if the preceding member breaks off with the rising in- 
flexion, theseintervening members are not pronounced 
in a lower tone, like other parenthesis, but in a higher 
and feebler tone of voice than the rest. 



ELOCUTION, W$ 



EXAMPLES. 

Thus then, said he, since you are so urgent, it is thus that I con- 
ceive it. The sovereign good is that, the possession of which ren- 
ders us happy. And how_, said I, do we possess it ? Is it sensual 
or intellectual ? There you are entering, said he, upon the detail. 

Harris* 

The first intervening member said he, is pronounced 
with the falling inflexion somewhat feebler than the 
words thus then, which have the same inflexion : the 
next intervening member, said I, has the falling in- 
flexion, in a feebler tone than the word how, which 
has the falling inflexion likewise ; but said he, in the 
next sentence, has the rising inflexion like the pre- 
ceding word entering, though in a feebler tone of 
voice. The same may be observed of the interven- 
ing member, says one of the frogs, in the following 
example : 

A company of waggish boys were watching of frogs at the side of 
a pond, and still as any of them put up their heads, they would be 
pelting them down again with stones : ct Children" (says one of the 
frogs), " you never consider, that though this may be play to you, 
" it is death to us." L Estrange, in Sped. No. 23. 

But when the intervening member goes farther 
than these simple phrases, they must always be pro- 
nounced in a lower tone of voice, and terminate with 
the rising inflexion. 

EXAMPLES. 

I had letters from him (here I felt in my pdckets) that exactly 
spoke the Czar's character, which I knew perfectly well. 

Spectator, No. 136. 

Young master was alive last Whitsuntide, said the coachman. — 
Whitsuntide ! alas ! cried Trim (extending his right arm, and falling 
instantly into the same attitude in which he read the sermon) — 
What is Whitsuntide, Jonathan (for that was the coachman's 
n&me), or Shrovetide, or any tide or time past to this ? Are we not 
here n6w, continued the Corporal (striking the end of his stick per- 



156 ELEMENTS OF 

pendicularly upon the floor, so as to give an idea of health and sta~ 
bility),and are we ndt (dropping his hat upon the grdund) gone 
in a moment ? Sterne. 

In these examples we perceive the parenthesis has 
a pronunciation much more different from the text 
than the small explanatory members, cried Trim, and 
continued the corporal, which, though pronounced in 
a different manner from the body of the sentence, 
have not so marked a difference as the parenthesis. 

Rule II. As the first general rule was, that the 
parenthesis ought to terminate with the same pause 
and inflexion of voice as the member that preceded it; 
the next general rule is, that the parenthesis, like the 
member immediately preceding it, almost always ter- 
minates with the pause of the comma and the rising 
inflexion : this has been abundantly exemplified in 
the foregoing instances ; and it will now be neces- 
sary to take notice of an exception to this rule, which 
is, when the parenthesis terminates with an empha- 
tical word which requires the falling inflexion ; for 
in this case, emphasis requires, that the parenthesis 
should terminate with the falling instead of the rising 
inflexion. 

EXAMPLE. 

Had 1, when speaking in the assembly, been absolute and inde- 
pendent master of affairs, then your other speakers might call me to 
account. But if ye were ever present, if ye were all in general in- 
vited to propose your sentiments, if ye were all agreed that the 
measures then suggested were realiy the best ; if you, ^schines, in 
particular, were thus persuaded (and it was no partial affection for 
me, that prompted you to give me up the hopes, the applause, the 
honours, which attended that course I then advised, hut the supe- 
rior force of truth, and your utter inability to point out, any more 
eligible course), if this was the case, I say, is it not highly cruel and 
unjust to arraign those measures now, when you could not then 
propose any better ? Leland"s Demost. on the Crown. 

Here the parenthesis finishing with two parts in 
opposition to each other, and the first of them being 



ELOCUTION. 157 

negative, and the last positive, the sense necessarily 
requires that advised should terminate with the rising, 
and eligible course with the falling inflexion ; but as 
the member which immediately precedes the paren- 
thesis is emphatical, and takes the falling inflexion, 
likewise in this case the general rule is not broken. 

Cicero, speaking of the duty of magistrates, says — 

Care must be taken that it be not (as was often done by our an- 
cestors, through the smallness of the treasury and continuance of 
the wars) necessary to raise taxes ; and in order to prevent this, pro- 
vision should be made against it long beforehand : but if the neces- 
sity of this service should happen to any state (which 1 had rather 
suppose of another than our own ; nor am I now discoursing of 
our dvvn but of every state in general) methods must be used to 
convince all persons (if they would be sectire) that they ought to 
submit to necessity. Cicero's Offices, book ii. c. 21. 

In this passage are no less than three parentheses ; 
the first and last, according to the general rule, end 
with the rising inflexion ; but the middle parenthetic 
member ending with two emphatic objects, the last 
of which requires the falling inflexion, the general 
rule must be dispensed with. Why the negative 
part of a sentence requires the rising, and positive 
part the falling inflexion, see Theory of Emphatic 
Inflexion. 

Before we conclude this article, it may not be im- 
proper to take notice of a very erroneous practice 
among printers, which is, substituting commas in- 
stead of the hooks which mark a parenthesis. Slight 
as this fault may appear at first sight, we shall find 
upon reflection, that it is productive of great incon- 
veniences; for if the parenthesis ought to be read in 
a lower tone of voice, and these hooks which enclose 
it are a mark of this tone, how shall a reader be able 
to understand this at sight, if the marks of the paren- 
thesis are taken away, and commas inserted in their 
stead? The difficulty of always deciding, what is a 
parenthesis, and what is not, may, perhaps, be some 



158 ELEMENTS OF 

excuse for confounding it with other intervening 
members ; but the absolute necessity of reading a 
real parenthesis with its proper tone of voice, makes 
it of some importance to distinguish between this and 
the incidental member which is often confounded 
with it. The best rule, therefore, to distinguish the 
member in question is, not merely to try if sense 
remains when it is left out of the sentence, but to 
see if the member so modifies the preceding member 
as to change it from a general to a particular mean- 
ing ; for if this be the case, the member, though inci- 
dental, is absolutely necessary to the sense of the 
whole sentence, and consequently cannot be a paren- 
thesis. An example will assist us in understanding 
this distinction, which is nearly the same as that 
which has been taken notice of in the definition of a 
sentence, p. 26\ » 

EXAMPLE. 

My friend the divine, having been used with words of complais- 
ance (which he thinks could be properly applied to no man living, 
and I think could be only spoken of him, and that in his absence), 
was so offended with the excessive way of speaking civilities among 
us, that he made a discourse against it at the club. 

The incidental member in this sentence, which, in 
every edition of the Spectator I have seen, is marked 
as a parenthesis, is certainly nothing more than an 
incidental member modifying that which precedes, 
and therefore ought to have no fall of the voice in 
pronouncing it as the parenthesis requires ; for the 
words of complaisance are not merely these words in 
general, but such as he thought could be applied to 
no one living, &c. ; and consequently this modifying 
member ought not to be so detached from that which 
it modifies, as to be pronounced in a lower tone of 
voice, as this would in some measure injure the sense. 

Thus have we gone through the several pauses and 
distinctions of punctuation, and to these pauses and 
distinctions have added such a slide or inflexion of 



ELOCUTION. 159 

voice as is suited to express them with clearness, 
strength and propriety. Our next attempt must be 
to show what pronunciation is required by accent, 
emphasis, variety, harmony, and passion: and this 
must be the subject of the second part of this work. 



ELEMENTS 



OP 



ELOCUTION. 

PART II. 

ACCENT. 

i\S accent relates to the pronunciation of words 
taken singly, it can have little to do in an essay on 
the pronunciation of words in succession, as elocu- 
tion, perhaps, may not improperly be called ; for as 
words justly pronounced are merely the materials for 
delivery, these must all be supposed to be in our own 
possession before we can possibly begin to arrange 
and display them to advantage. A person who pro- 
nounces every word singly with the greatest purity, 
may not be able to read well ; and another may con- 
vey the sense of an author with great force and beauty, 
who does not always either pronounce the words just- 
ly, or place the accent on the proper syllable. The 
only point, therefore, in which it will be necessary to 
take notice of accent in reading, is that where the 
emphasis requires a transposition of it : this happens 
when two words which have a sameness in part of 
their formation, are opposed to each other in sense. 
Thus, if I pronounce the words justice and injustice 
as single words, I naturally place the accent on 
the penultimate syllable of both; but if I contrast 
them, and say, Neither justice nor injustice have 
any thing to do with the present question ; in this 
sentence I naturally place the accent on the first 
syllable of injustice, in order the more forcibly and 
clearly to distinguish it from justice. This trans- 



ELOCUTION. 1 61 

position of the accent, which is so evidently dictated 
by the sense, extends itself to all words which have a 
sameness of termination, though they may not be 
directly opposite in sense ; thus, if I wanted more par- 
ticularly to shew that I meant one requisite of dra- 
matic story rather than another, I should say, In 
this species of composition, plausibility is much more 
essential than probability ; and in the pronunciation 
of these words, I should infallibly transpose the accent 
of both, from the third to the first syllables ; in order 
to contrast those parts of the words which are distin- 
guished from each other by the import of the sentence. 
As an instance of the necessity of attending to this 
emphatical accent, as it may be called, we need only 
give a passage from the Spectator, N° 189 : 

In this case I may use the saying of an eminent wit, who upon 
some great men's pressing him to forgive his daughter who had mar- 
ried against his consent, told them he could refuse nothing to their 
instances, but that he would have them remember there was a differ- 
ence between giving and/orgiving. 

In this example we find the whole sense of the pas- 
sage depends on placing the accent on the first syllable 
of forgiving, in order to contrast it more strongly with 
giving, to which it is opposed ; as without this trans- 
position of accent, the opposition, on which the sen- 
timent turns, would be lost. 

Another instance will more fully illustrate the ne- 
cessity of attending to this emphatical accent. 

The prince for the public good ha3 a sovereign property in every 
private person's estate ; and, consequently, his riches must increase 
or decrease, in proportion to the number and riches of his subjects. 

Spectator, No * 200. 

The words increase and decrease have, in this exam- 
ple, the accent on the first syllable of each, as it is 
there the contrast in the sense lies. 

What has already been said of accent, as it relates 
to the art of reading, is, perhaps more than sufficient ; 
but so much has been said about the nature of this 
accent, both in the ancient and modern languages, 

M 



162 ELEMENTS OF 

that it may not be improper to offer a few thoughts 
on the subject here. Almost all authors, ancient and 
modern, assert, that the accented syllable is pro- 
nounced in a higher tone than the rest ; but Mr. 
Sheridan insists that it is not pronounced higher, but 
louder only.* Whatever may have been the nature 
of accent in the learned languages, certain it is, that 
the accented syllable in our own is always louder than 
the rest ; and if we attend ever so little to the two 
kinds of inflexion with which every accented word in 
a sentence is pronounced, we shall soon see that the 
accented syllable is either higher or lower than the 
rest, according to the inflexion which it adopts. 
Thus in this sentence, Plate III. N° L-p. 164 : 

Sooner or later virtue must meet with a reward. 
Here I say the last syllable ward has the falling in- 
flexion ; and if we pronounce the word without em- 
phasis, and merely as if we were concluding the sub- 
ject, this syllable will be pronounced louder and lower 
than the syllable immediately preceding ; but if we 
give emphasis to this syllable, by opposing it to some- 
thing else, we shall find it pronounced both higher and 
louder than the preceding syllables. Thus in the fol- 
lowing sentence, Plate III. N° II. 

Most certainly virtue will meet with a reward, and not punishment. 

Here the word reward has the same inflexion as in 
the former instance, and the word punishment ends 
with the rising inflexion ; but the syllable ward is 
perceptibly higher as well as louder than the syllable 
that precedes it. Again, if we give this word the 
rising inflexion, we shall find, in this case, that with- 
out emphasis the accented syllable ivard is pro- 
nounced both louder and higher than the preceding 
syllables. Thus N° III. 

* See this erroneous opinion of Mr. Sheridan clearly refuted in 
the Observations on the Greek and Latin Accent and Quantity at 
the end of the Key to the Classical Pronunciation of Greek and Latin 
Proper Names. 



ELOCUTION. 163 

If virtue must have a rew&rd, it is our interest to be virtuous. 

These observations compare the accented syllable 
with the preceding syllables only : it will in the next 
place be necessary to compare it with those that fol- 
low: for which purpose, let us observe the pronunci- 
ation of this sentence, N° IV. 

We ought to avoid blame, though we cannot be perfect. 

Here, I say, if we give the word perfect the falling 
inflexion, and pronounce it with emphasis, we shall 
find the first syllyable very perceptibly higher and 
louder than the last ; on the contrary, if we give the 
word perfect the rising inflexion, we shall find the 
accented syllable louder than the last, though not so 
high : for the last syllable perceptibly slides into a 
higher tone. Thus N° V. : 

If we wish to be perfect, we must imitate Christ. 

These observations will, perhaps, be still better con- 
ceived, by watching our pronunciation of a word 
where the accent is nearly in the middle. Thus in 
this passage of Shakspeare : 

What earthly name to interrogatories, 

Shall task the free breath of* a sacred king? King John. 

In this passage, I say, the syllable rog has the rising 
inflexion, and is pronounced perceptibly louder and 
higher than the two first, and louder and lower than 
the three last : but if we give this syllable the falling 
inflexion, as in this sentence : 

He is neither mov'd by entreaties nor interrogatories, 

here, I say, the syllable rog, if pronounced with the 
least degree of emphasis, is both louder and higher 
than either the preceding or subseqnent syllables. 

From these observations, this general conclusion 
may be drawn ; Whatever inflexion be adopted, the 
accented syllable is always louder than the rest ; but if 
the accent be pronounced with the rising inflexion, the 

m 2 



164 ELEMENTS OF 

accented syllable is higher than the preceding, and lower 
than the succeeding syllable ; and if the accent have the 
Jailing inflexion, the accented syllable is pronounced 
higher than any other syllable, either preceding or suc- 
ceeding. The only exception to this is, the sentence, 
N° I. where the accent is on the last syllable of a word 
which has no emphasis, and is pronounced as forming 
a cadence at the conclusion of a discourse. 

Sooner or later virtue must meet with a reward. 

Here the last syllable, though pronounced louder 
than the first, is evidently pronounced a degree lower. 

It may not, perhaps, be improper to take notice of 
a common usage of the word accent, which, though 
seemingly inaccurate, will befound, upon examination, 
to be a just application of the word. It is the cus- 
tom, not only of England, but of other parts of the 
world which are seats of empire, to call those modes 
of pronunciation used in parts distant from the capi- 
tal, by the name of accents. Thus we say, a native 
of Ireland speaks English with the Irish, and a 
native of Scotland with the Scotch accent, though 
both these speakers pronounce every word with the 
accent on the very same syllable as the English. 
Why then do we say, they speak with a different 
accent ? One reason is, that speaking sounds have 
never been sufficiently analysed to enable us to dis- 
cover their component parts, which makes us take up 
with indefinite and unspecific terms, instead of such 
as are precise and appropriated to their object. This 
has greatly obscured the notion of accent, and led 
Mr. Sheridan to suppose, that accent in our language 
is no more thon a force upon a certain syllable of a 
word which distinguishes it from the rest : but that 
accent has no reference to inflexions of voice, and 
for that reason the word is used by us in the singular 
number. Others * have imagined, that we have two 
accents, the grave and acute ; but in the definition of 

* Essay on the Harmony of Language, Robson, 1774. 



ELOCUTION. 165 

these, they seem only to mean that the latter has a 
greater degree of force than the former. Thus, for 
want of the simple distinction of the rising and fall- 
ing slide of the voice, with which every accented 
syllable must necessarily be pronounced, the nature of 
our own accent seems as obscure, and as little under- 
stood, as that of the Greeks and Romans : audit is to 
this obscurity we owe the supposed impropriety of 
calling a dialect by the name of accent ; for though 
there are other differences in the Scotch and Irish pro- 
nunciation of English besides this, it is to the differ- 
ence of accent that the chief diversity is owing : if we 
understand accent only as force or stress, there is, in- 
deed, the slightest difference imaginable j since in 
both these kingdoms the stress is (to the exception of 
very few words indeed) laid on the same syllable as in 
England ; and, for this reason, the laws of poetry are 
exactly the same in all ; but if we divide accent into 
grave and acute, and call the acute, the stress with the 
rising inflexion, and the grave, the stress with the fall- 
ing inflexion, we shall then see the propriety of saying, 
such a one speaks with the Irish or Scotch accent; for 
though the Irish place the stress precisely on the same 
syllable as the English, it is often with a different in- 
flexion; and the same maybe said of the Scotch. Thus 
the Scotch pronounce the far greater part of their 
words with the acute accent, or rising inflexion, and 
the Irish as constantly make use of the grave accent, 
or falling inflexion, while the English observe pretty 
nearly a due mixture of each. If we pronounce a sen- 
tence in these three different modes, it may, perhaps, 
suggest to the ear the truth of the foregoing observa- 
tions. 

, , Scotch. » 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution, 

N Irish. 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 

v English. 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 

If these observations are just, the Irish ought to ha- 



166 ELEMENTS OF 

bituate themselves to a more frequent use of the 
rising inflexion, and the Scotch to the falling, in or- 
der to acquire what is not (from this view of the sub- 
ject) improperly called the English accent. 

But, besides these two simple accents, which, from 
the rising and falling inflexion they adopt, may be 
called the acute and the grave ; there are two other 
accents compounded of these, which may be called 
the rising and falling circumflexes. These are totally 
unknown to the moderns : but are so inherent in the 
nature of the human voice, and so demonstrable upon 
experiment, as to defy contradiction. See Preface 
to this work, in the Notes. 

EMPHASIS. 
Introduction to the Theory of Emphasis. 

Emphasis, in the most usual sense of the word, is 
that stress with which certain words are pronounced, 
so as to be distinguished from the rest of the sentence. 

Among the number of words we make use of in 
discourse, there will always be some which are more 
necessary to be understood than others : those things 
with which we suppose our hearers to be pre-ac- 
quainted, we express by such a subordination of stress 
as is suitable to the small importance of things already 
understood ; while those of which our hearers are 
either not fully informed, or which they might pos- 
sibly misconceive, are enforced with such an increase 
of stress as makes it impossible for the hearer to over- 
look or mistake them. Thus, as in a picture, the 
more essential parts of a sentence are raised as it 
were, from the level of speaking ; and the less neces- 
sary are, by this means, sunk into a comparative 
obscurity. 

From this general idea of emphasis, it will readily 
appear of how much consequence it is to readers 
and speakers not to be mistaken in it ; the necessity 
of distinguishing the emphatical words from the rest, 
has made writers on this subject extremely solicitous 



ELOCUTION. 167 

to give such rules for placing the emphasis, as may, 
in some measure, facilitate this difficult part of elo- 
cution : but few have gone farther than to tell us, that 
we must place the emphasis on that word in reading, 
which we should make emphatical in speaking ; and 
though the importance of emphasis is insisted on with 
the utmost force and elegance of language, no assist- 
ance is given us to determine which is the emphatic 
word where several appear equally emphatical, nor 
have we any rule to distinguish between those words 
which have a greater, and those which have a lesser 
degree of stress ; the sense of the author is the sole 
direction we are referred to, and all is left to the taste 
and understanding of the reader. 

One writer, indeed, the author of the Philosophical 
Inquiry into the Delivery of written Language, has 
given us a distinction of emphasis into two kinds, 
which has thrown great light upon this obstruse sub- 
ject. This gentleman distinguishes the stress into em- 
phasis of force, and emphasis of sense. " Emphasis of 
" force," he tells us, '• is that stress we lay on almost 
ic every significant word ; emphasis of sense, is that 
" stress we lay on one or two particular words, which 
" distinguishes them from all the rest in the sentence." 
" The former stress," he observes, " is variable, ac- 
" cording to the conception and taste of the reader, 
" and cannot be reduced to any certain rule :" " the 
" latter ," he says, " is determined by the sense of the 
" author, and is always fixed and invariable." This 
distinction, it must be owned, is, in general, a very 
just one ; and a want of attending to it, has occa- 
sioned great confusion in this subject, even in our 
best writers. They perceived, that beside those words 
which were strongly emphatical, there were many 
others that had a stress greatly superior to the parti- 
cles and less significant words, and these they jumbled 
together under the general term emphasis. Thus 
when the emphatical words were to be marked by 
being printed in a different character, we find in 



168 ELEMENTS OF 

several of the modern productions on the art of read- 
ing, that sometimes more than half of the words are 
printed in Italics, and considered as equally empha- 
tical. The wrong tendency of such a practice is suffi- 
ciently obvious, but its origin was never pointed out 
till the publication of the essay above mentioned. 
This must be allowed to have thrown considerable 
light on the subject ; and it is by the assistance which 
this author has given, that I shall endeavour to push 
my enquiries into emphasis, still farther than he has 
done ; I shall not only establish the distinction he has 
laid down, but attempt to draw the line between these 
two kinds of emphasis, so as to mark more precisely 
the boundaries of each. To this distinction of empha- 
sis, I shall add another : I shall make a distinction of 
each into two kinds, according to the inflexion of 
voice they adopt; which, though of the utmost im- 
portance in conveying a just idea of emphasis, has 
never been noticed by any of our writers on the sub- 
ject. This distinction of emphasis arises naturally 
from the observations already laid down, on the rising 
and falling inflexion ; we have seen the importance of 
attending to these two inflexions in the several parts, 
and at the end of a sentence ; and it is presumed, 
the utility of attending to the same inflexions, when 
applied to emphasis, will appear no less evident and 
unquestionable. 

But before we enter into this distinction of em- 
phatic inflexion, it may not be improper to show more 
precisely the distinction of emphasis, into that which 
arises from the peculiar sense of one or two words in a 
sentence, and that which arises from the greater im- 
portance of the nouns, verbs, and other insignificant 
words, than of connectives and particles. And, first, 
let us examine some passages where only the latter 
kind of emphasis is found ; this emphasis, if it may 
be so called, takes place on almost every word in a 
sentence 3 but the articles, prepositions, and smaller 
parts of speech ; and by pronouncing these feebly, we 



ELOCUTION. 169 

give a force to the other words, that is commonly, but 
improperly, styled emphasis. 

Thus, in pronouncing the following sentence in the 
Spectator : 

Gratian very often recommends the fine taste as the utmost per- 
fection of an accomplished man. Spectator, No. 409. 

We may perceive a very evident difference in the 
force with which these words are pronounced : the 
article the, the conjunction and particle as the, and 
the preposition and article of an, are very distinguish- 
able from the rest of the words by a less forcible pro- 
nunciation ; and this less forcible pronunciation on 
the smaller words, raises the others in some degree of 
emphasis. If we pronounce the next sentence pro- 
perly, we shall find several other words sink into an 
obscurity of the same kind, and by their feebleness a 
comparative degree of force thrown on the rest of the 
words. 

As this word arises very often in conversation, I shall endeavour 
to give some account of it; and to lay down rules how we may 
know whether we are possessed of it; and how we may acquire that 
line taste in writing which is so much talked of among the polite 
world. Ibid. 

In this sentence we find the prepositions, conjunc- 
tions, and pronoun it, pronounced with the same de- 
gree of feebleness as in the last instance ; and besides 
these we find the words, I shall, we may, we are, and 
which is, pronounced much more feebly than the rest 
of the words ; this can be owing to nothing but the 
nature of the words themselves, which, though in- 
dicating person, promise, power, and existence, exhibit 
none of these particulars emphatically ; that is, these 
words imply only such general circumstances as the 
objects are commonly supposed to be accompanied 
with, and therefore are anticipated or presupposed 
by the hearer : for whatever the hearer is supposed to 
be acquainted with, is not the object of communica- 
tion : the person speaking is under no necessity of tell- 



170 ELEMENTS OF 

ing his auditors that he in particular shall do any thing, 
unless he means to distinguish himself from some 
other speaker ; for that he speaks, is very well under- 
stood by every one who hears him : and for this rea- 
son, whatever has been once mentioned, is generally 
pronounced afterwards with less force than at first, 
as supposed to be already sufficiently known. 

As an instance of the variety which this emphasis 
of force (as it is called) admits, it may not be impro- 
per to mark the foregoing sentence two different ways; 
first with such words in Italics as seem necessarily to 
require a greater force than the particles ; and then 
to add to these, such words as we may pronounce in 
the same manner without altering the sense. 

As this word arises very often in conversation, I shall endeavour to 
give some account of it; and to lay down rules how we may know 
whether we are possessed of it ; and how we may acquire that fine 
taste in writing which is so much talked of among the polite world. 

As this word arises very often in conversation, I shall endeavour to 
give some account of it j and to lay down rules how we may know 
whether we are possessed of it j and how we may acquire that fine 
taste in writing so much talked of among the polite world. 

It may, however, be observed, that though the 
last manner of marking this sentence is more 
emphatical, the first is the most easy and na- 
tural. 

I shall offer another instance to show the difference 
in the stress we lay on different words in a sentence, 
and then proceed to an examination of that stress 
which may be properly styled emphatical. Thus if 
we repeat the following sentence, 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 

we find the particle and and the, pronounced much 
more feebly than the other words : and yet these other 
words cannot be properly called emphatical \ for the 



ELOCUTION. 171 

stress that is laid on them is no more than what is 
necessary to convey distinctly the meaning of each 
word : but if a word which has emphasis of sense be 
thrown into this sentence, we shall soon perceive a 
striking difference between these words and the em- 
phatical one ; thus, if we were to say, 

Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent consti- 
tution. 

Here we shall find the word indifferent, pronounced 
much more forcibly than the words exercise, temper- 
ance, and strengthen, as these words are more forcibly 
pronounced than the particles and and the, and even 
than the word constitution : for as this word comes im- 
mediately after the emphatic word indifferent, and is, 
by the very import of the emphasis, in some measure 
understood, it sinks into the same degree of obscurity 
with the particles, and cannot be raised from this 
obscurity without diminishing the force of the em- 
phatic word itself. 

If it should be asked what degree of force are we 
to give to these obscure words, it may be answered, 
just that force which we give to the unaccented 
syllables of words ; so that two words, one accented 
and the other not, are to the ear exactly like one 
word ; thus the words even an indifferent constitution, 
are sounded like a word of eleven syllables, with the 
accent on the fifth. For a full explication of the 
relative force of the words, see Rhetorical Grammar, 

p. 97. 

This brings us to a threefold distinction of words 
with regard to the force with which they are pro- 
nounced ; namely, the conjunctions, particles, and 
words understood, which are obscurely and feebly 
pronounced ; the substantives, verbs, and more sig- 
nificant words, which are firmly and distinctly pro- 
nounced ; and the emphatical word, which is forcibly 
pronounced : it is the last of these only which can be 
properly styled emphasis ; and it is to a discovery of 



17* ELEMENTS OF 

the nature and cause of this emphasis, that all our 
attention ought to be directed. 

And first we may observe, that if these distinctions 
are just, the common definition of emphasis is very 
faulty. Emphasis is said to be a stress laid on one or 
more words to distinguish them from others : but 
this definition, as we have just seen, makes almost 
every word in the sentence emphatical, and, at the 
same time, confounds the distinction between words 
which have force from a peculiarity of meaning, and 
those which have force from having only a general 
meaning, or more meaning than the particles. Here 
then we must endeavour to investigate a juster defi- 
nition : such a one as will enable us to distinguish 
words which are really emphatical, from those which 
are only pronounced with common force: for, as the 
ingenious author above mentioned has observed, these 
latter words may sometimes be forcibly, and some- 
times feebly pronounced, without any importance to 
the sense, as has been shown in the last example but 
one ; but the former, that is, such word? as are truly 
emphatical, must always have their just degree of 
force and energy, or the sense will be manifestly 
injured : this Emphasis of sense, therefore, ought to 
be the first object of inquiry. 

The principal circumstance that distinguishes em- 
phatical words from others, seems to be a meaning 
which points out, or distinguishes, something as dis- 
tinct or opposite to some other thing. When this op- 
position is expressed in words, it forms an antithesis, 
the opposite parts of which are always emphatical. 
Thus in the following couplet from Pope : 

'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill 
Appear in writing or in judging ill. 

The words writing and judging are opposed to each 
other, and are therefore the emphatical words : where 
we may likewise observe, that the disjunctive or, by 
which the antithesis is connected, means one of the 



ELOCUTION.' 173 

things exclusively of the other. The same may be 
observed in another couplet from the same author ; 
where one branch of the antithesis is not expressed 
but understood : 

Get wealth and place, if possible with grace? 
If not, by any means get wealth and place. 

Here it appears evidently, that the words any means, 
which are the most emphatical, are directly opposed 
to the means understood by the word grace, and the 
last line is perfectly equivalent to this : If not by these 
means, by any other means get wealth and place. 

In these instances the opposition suggested by the 
emphatical word is evident at first sight ; in other 
cases, perhaps, the antithesis is not quite so obvious % 
but if an emphasis can be laid on any word, we may 
be assured that word is an antithesis with some 
meaning agreeable to the general sense of the pas- 
sage. 

To illustrate this, let us pronounce a line of Mar- 
cus in Cato, where, expressing his indignation at the 
behaviour of Caesar, he says, 

I'm tortur'd ev'n to madness, when I think 
Of the proud victor — 

And we shall find the greatest stress fail naturally 
on that word, which seems opposed to some common 
or general meaning; for the young hero does not say, 
in the common and unemphatic sense of the word 
think, that he is tortured even to madness when he 
thinks on Caesar ; but in the strong and emphatic 
sense of this word, which implies, not only ivhen I 
hear or discourse of him, but even when I think of him, 
I am tortured even to madness. As the word think 
therefore, arises above the common level of significa- 
tion, it is pronounced above the common level of the 
sound ; and as this signification is opposed to a sig- 



17^ ELEMENTS OF 

nification less forcible, the word may be properly 
said to be emphatical. 

This more than ordinary meaning, or a meaning 
opposed to some other meaning, seems to be the 
principal source of emphasis ; for if, as in the last 
instance, we find the words will bear this opposition 
to their common signification, we may be sure they 
are emphatical ; this will be still more evident from 
another example : 

By the faculty of a lively and picturesque imagination, a man in 
a dungeon is capable of entertaining himself with scenes and land- 
skips, more beautiful than any that can be found in the whole com- 
pass of nature. Spectator, No. 41 1 . 

If we read this passage without that emphasis 
which the word dungeon requires, we enervate the 
meaning, and scarcely give the sense of the author ; 
for the import plainly is, that a lively imagination, 
not merely absent from beautiful scenes, but even in a 
dungeon, can form scenes more beautiful than any in 
nature. 

This plenitude of meaning in a particular word, 
is not always so prominent as to be discernable by a 
common reader ; but wherever it really exists, the 
general meaning of the author is greatly enforced by 
emphatically pointing it out. Let us take an ex- 
ample : 

Steele begins one of his letters in the Spectator 
with the following sentence : 

I have very often lamented, and hinted my sorrow in several 
speculations, that the art of painting is so little made use of, to the 
improvement of our manners. Spectator, No. 2*26. 

As in this sentence, which is the first in the essay 
it is taken from, we find a new and important object 
introduced : so, if we do not pronounce it with em- 
phasis, it will not be sufficiently noticed. The word 
painting, as it stands in this sentence, may very well 



ELOCUTION. 175 

be supposed to be in contrast with other arts, which, 
though often used for the improvement of manners, 
are, perhaps, not so conducive to that end, as this 
particular art : this antithesis is perfectly understood 
if the word painting is made emphatical, but entirely 
lost if it is pronounced feebly : nay, sliding it over 
without emphasis, will suppose the hearer pre-ac- 
quainted with the subject to be treated, contrary to 
what is really the case : this will be still more appa- 
rent by pronouncing it both ways ; first without the 
proper stress on the word painting, and afterwards 
with it, 

I have very often lamented, and hinted my sorrow in several spe- 
culations, that the art of painting is so little made use of to the im- 
provement of our manners. 

I have very often lamented, and hinted my sorrow in several spe- 
culations, that the art of painting is so little made use of to the im- 
provement of our manners. 

In these instances we find every emphatical word 
placed in opposition, as it were, to some meaning 
which it seems to exclude. 

Wherever the contrariety or opposition is expressed, 
we are at no loss for the emphatical words ; the great- 
est difficulty in reading, lies in a discovery of those 
words which are in opposition to something not ex- 
pressed but understood ; and the best method to find 
the emphasis on these sentences, is to take the word 
we suppose to be emphatical, and try whether it will 
admit of those words being supplied which an empha- 
sis on it would suggest : if, when these words are sup- 
plied, we find them not only agreeable to the meaning 
of the writer, but an improvement of his meaning, we 
may pronounce the word emphatical ; but if these 
words we supply, are not agreeable to the meaning of 
the words expressed, or else give them an affected 
and fanciful meaning, we ought by no means to lay 
the emphasis upon them : let us take an example of 
both these kind of emphasis. 



176 ELEMENTS OF 

Mr. Addison, in one of his Spectators, showing 
the advantages of good taste, says — 

A man of a polite imagination is let into a great many pleasures 
that the vulgar are not capable of receiving ; he can converse with 
a picture, and find an agreeable companion in a statue. 

Spectator, No. 411. 

We shall find but few readers lay any considerable 
stress upon the word picture, in this sentence ; but if 
we examine it by the former rule, we shall find a 
stress upon this word a considerable embellishment 
to the thought ; for it hints to the mind that a polite 
imagination does not only find pleasure in conversing 
ivith those objects which give pleasure to all, but with 
those which give pleasure to such only as can converse 
with them; here then the emphasis on the word 
picture, is not only -an advantage to the thought, but 
in some measure necessary to it. This will appear 
still more evidently by reading the passage both 
ways, as in the last example. 

But if emphasis does not improve, it always vitiates 
the sense ; and, therefore, should be always avoided 
where the use of it is not evident : this will appear 
by placing an emphasis on a word in a sentence 
which does not require it : 

I have several letters by me from people of good sense, who 
lament the depravity or poverty of taste the toWn has fallen into with 
relation to plays and public spectacles. Spectator, No. 208. 

Now, if we lay a considerable degree of emphasis 
upon the words good sense, it will strongly suggest 
that the people here mentioned are not common or 
ordinary people, which though not opposite to the 
meaning of the.writer, does not seem necessary either 
to the completion or embellishment of it; for as par- 
ticularly marking these people out as persons of good 
sense, seems to obviate an objection that they might 
possibly be fools, and as it would not be very wise to 
suppose this objection, it would show as little wisdom 
to endeavour to preclude it by a more than ordinary 



ELOCUTION. 177 

stress ; the plain words of the author, therefore, 
without any emphasis on them, sufficiently show his 
meaning. 

From these observations, the following definition of 
emphasis seems naturally to arise : Emphasis, when 
applied to particular words, is that stress we lay on 
words which are in contradistinction to other words 
either expressed or understood. And hence will follow 
this general rule: Wherever there is contradistinction 
in the sense of the words, there ought to he emphasis in 
the pronunciation of them ; the converse of this being 
equally true, Wherever we place emphasis, we suggest 
the idea of contradistinction. 

Emphasis thus investigated and defined, we may 
observe, that all words are pronounced either with 
emphatic force, accented force, or unaccented force ; 
this last kind of force we may call by the name of 
feebleness ; or, in other words, where the words are 
in contradistinction to other words, or to some sense 
implied, we may call them emphatic ; where they do 
not denote contradistinction, and yet are more im- 
portant than the particles, we may call them accented, 
and the particles and lesser words we may call 
unaccented or feeble ; for if we observe the pronun- 
ciation of these latter words, we shall find they have 
exactly the same feebleness as the unaccented sylla- 
bles of a word whose accented syllable is pronounced 
with some degree of force : w r e shall see likewise, that 
an accented word, which has a degree of force, when 
compared with unaccented words ; when it is joined 
with an emphatic one, and pronounced immediately 
before or after it, sinks into a feebleness equal to the 
unaccented words ; and that the unaccented sylla- 
bles, even of an emphatic word, are pronounced with 
as much less force than the accented syllable, as the 
unaccented syllables of an accented word, are less for- 
cible than the accented syllable of an un emphatic 
word. These observations are exemplified in the 
pronunciation of the following sentences : 

N 



178 ELEMENTS OF 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 

Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent constitution, 

In the first of these sentences the particles awe? and 
the are pronounced like unaccented syllables of tem- 
perance and constitution : in the last sentence, the 
word constitution is pronounced with the same feeble- 
ness as the particles and and the ; and the last two 
syllables of the emphatic word indifferent, are as 
much below the second syllable in force, as the par- 
ticles and unaccented syllables are below those which 
have an accent. 

By this threefold distinction we are enabled to 
make very considerable advances in the methods of 
conveying instruction in reading ; we can not only 
mark the emphatic words as usual, but distinguish 
them from the accented : these again may be distin- 
guished from the unaccented, and by these means we 
make a nearer approach to the sense of composition, 
and to a method of conveying our delivery of it to 
others. But a still greater advance remains to be 
made by another distinction : a distinction, which, 
to the former advantages of marking the different de- 
grees of force on words, adds the still more striking 
difference of inflexion of voice. This distinction, 
though obvious and palpable, is perfectly new ; and 
it is hoped has been so explained in the first part 
of this work, as to be readily comprehended by the 
reader; for when it is once comprehended we may 
strongly presume that it cannot fail to add greatly 
to instruction in speaking, as these two different in- 
flexions of voice are the most marking and significant 
distinctions of speech. 

As a specimen of the utility of these distinctions 
of emphasis and inflexion, we may observe, that a dif- 
ference of character may express the different degrees 
of force with which every word is pronounced, and a 
different accent may show what inflexion each of these 
forces must adopt. Thus in the following example : 



ELOCUTION. 179 

Exercise and temperance strengthen even an INDIFFERENT 
constitution. 

Here we see a threefold distinction of force : the 
word indifferent is emphatical, and has the greatest 
stress ; the words exercise, temperance, and strengthen, 
have a lesser degree of force ; and the words and, 
even, an, and constitution, have a still smaller degree 
of stress, and may be said to be absolutely feeble : and 
these different forces are diversified by the difference 
of inflexion, as marked in the example. But, although, 
in certain critical cases, where the sense of an author 
is difficult to point out, all these three distinctions 
may greatly assist us in conveying the exact pronun- 
ciation ; yet, in general, it will be quite sufficient to 
mark the emphatic word with small Italics, and the 
rest with Roman letters, without entering into the dis- 
tinction of the feeble words from those that have a 
secondary force ; which feeble words, if necessary to 
be pointed out, may be denoted by the small Roman 
letter, and their different inflexions by a different 
accent. 

Those who wish to see this notation more distinctly 
delineated, may consult the Rhetorical Grammar ; 
where, it is presumed, they will find the fullest satis- 
faction respecting the relative force of unaccented 
words. 

Theory of Emphatic Inflexion. 

Having thus endeavoured to give a clear and dis- 
tinct idea of the two different kinds of emphasis, and 
attempted to prove, that emphasis, properly so called, 
always supposes contradistinction or antithesis, either 
expressed or understood ; it will now be necessary to 
show that every emphatic word, properly so called, 
is as much distinguished by the inflexion it adopts, 
as by the force with which it is pronounced. 

We have seen already, that where there is no em- 
phasis, the most significant words in a sentence adopt 
a different inflexion of voice for the sake of variety 

N<2 



180 ELEMENTS OF 

and harmony : for, provided the sentence reads well, 
it is of no consequence on which words the different 
inflexions are placed. Thus in the following sentence : 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution, 

111 this sentence, I say, the words temperance and 
strengthen, have the rising, and exercise and constitu- 
tion the falling inflexion ; but if this sentence were 
lengthened by the addition of another member, we 
should find the inflexions shift their places. Thus in 
the following sentence : 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution and sweeten 
the enjoyments of life. 

Here, I say, the words exercise and constitution have 
the rising, and temperance and strengthen the falling 
inflexion, as most agreeable to the harmony of the 
whole sentence : but if a word really emphatical had 
been in the first sentence, no additional member 
would have obliged it to alter its inflexion. Thus in 
the following sentence : 

Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent constitution. 

Here the word indifferent, which is really empha- 
tical, has the falling inflexion ; and this inflexion it 
will still preserve, though we lengthen the sentence 
in imitation of the former by an additional member. 
For example : 

Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent constitu- 
tion, and supply in sdme measure the imperfections of nature. 

Here we find that, however the inflexion may 
change place on the rest of the words, the word in- 
different must always have the falling inflexion, or 
the sense of the sentence will not be brought perfectly 
out. In the same manner we may observe, that the 
same word in another sentence, when it requires the 
rising inflexion, cannot alter that inflexion to the fall- 



ELOCUTION. 181 

in g, without injuring the sense. Thus in the follow- 
ing sentence.: 

He that has but an indifferent constitution ought to strengthen it 
by exercise and temperance. 

Here the word indifferent must necessarily have 
the emphasis with the rising inflexion, whatever may 
be the inflexion on the other words. 

As a farther proof that emphatic words cannot 
alter their inflexion, we need only attend to the pro- 
nunciation of a line in Milton, where two emphatic 
words are opposed to each other ; speaking of Nim- 
rod, he says—; 

Hunting (and men not blasts shall be his game). B. xii. v. 30. 

In pronouncing this passage, we shall find every 
reader Jay the falling inflexion on men, and the rising 
on beasts, as giving them a contrary position, that is, 
pronouncing men with the rising, and beasts with the 
falling inflexion, w T ould soon convince us that the for- 
mer arrangement is precisely what the sense demands. 

From these observations this maxim arises, that as 
the emphasis of a word depends on the sense of a sen- 
tence, so the inflexion of voice which this emphatic 
word adopts, depends on the sense likewise, and is 
equally invariable : from whence it will evidently 
follow, that where there are two emphatic words in 
the same sentence, the sense alone can decide w T hich 
is to have the rising, and which the falling inflexion 
of voice. 

It has been already proved, that emphasis always 
implies antithesis ; and that where this antithesis is 
agreeable to the sense of the author, the emphasis is 
proper ; but that where there is no antithesis in the 
thought, there ought to be none on the words ; be- 
cause, whenever an emphasis is placed upon an im- 
proper word, it will suggest an antithesis, which either 
does not exist, or is not agreeable to the sense and 
intention of the writer. Here some new light seems 
to be thrown on the nature of emphasis, and a line 



182 ELEMENTS OF 

_ 

drawn to distinguish emphatic words from others ; but 
still we are at a loss for the reason why one emphatic 
word should adopt the rising inflexion, and another 
the falling : from the foregoing examples, it appears, 
that every emphatic word requires either the one or 
the other of these inflexions, and that the meaning of 
an author entirely depends on giving each emphatic 
word its peculiar inflexion. It does not seem there- 
fore entirely useless, so far to inquire into the nature, 
or specific quality, if I may be allowed to call it so, of 
these two emphatic inflexions, as to be able to decide 
which we shall adopt where the sense of the author 
does not immediately dictate. Thus in a former quo- 
tation from Milton, when speaking ofNimrod,he says, 

Hunting (and mm not beasts shall be his game); 

Here I say, the ear and understanding are both im- 
mediately satisfied upon pronouncing men with the 
falling, and beasts with the rising inflexion : but in 
another line of the same author, when speaking of* 
Satan, he calls iiim, 

The tempter ere the accuser of mankind $ 

Here, I say, it is not quite so clear how we shall dis- 
pose of these two inflexions on the two emphatic 
words, tempter* and accuser ; and an inquiry into the 
nature of these inflexions, so as to ^x the peculiar 
import of each, may, perhaps, assist us in deciding 
with precision in this and similar instances. 

It has been observed, that emphasis is divisible into 
two kinds, namely, into that where the antithesis is 
expressed, and that where it is only implied ; or, in 
other words, into that emphasis where there are two 
or more emphatic words corresponding to each other, 
and that where the emphatic word relates to some 
other word, not expressed but understood ; an in- 
stance of the first is this : 

When a Persian soldier was reviling Alexander the Great, his 
officer reprimanded him by saying, Sir, you were paid to fight against 
Alexander, and not to rail at him. Spectator. 



ELOCUTION. 183 

Here we find fight and rail are the two emphatic 
words which correspond to each other, and that the 
positive member which affirms something, adopts the 
falling inflexion on fight, and the negative member, 
which excludes something, has the rising inflexion on 
rail. 

An instance of the latter kind of emphasis is this : 

By the faculty of a lively and picturesque imagination, a man in 
a dungeon is capable of entertaining himself with scenes and land- 
scapes, more beautiful than any that can be found in the whole com- 
pass of nature. Spectator, No. 411. 

Here we find the word dungeon emphatical, but it 
has not any correspondent word as the other sen- 
tence. If we pronounce this emphatic word with the 
falling inflexion, the correspondent words which be- 
long to this emphasis may be imagined to be nearly 
these, not merely absent from beautiful scenes ; which, 
if added to the word dungeon, we should find perfectly 
agreeable to the sense suggested by the emphasis on 
that word ; if we draw out this latter sentence at 
length, we shall find it consist of the same positive 
and negative parts as the former, and that the positive 
part assumes the falling, and the negative the rising 
inflexion on both. 

EXAMPLES. 

When a Persian soldier was reviling Alexander the Great, his 
officer reprimanded him by saying, Sir, you were paid to fight Alex- 
ander, and not rail at him. 

By the faculty of a lively andpicturesque imagination, a man in 
a dungeon, and not merely absent from beautiful scenes, is capable of 
entertaining himself with scenes and landscapes, more beautiful than 
any that can be found in the whole compass of nature. 

Here then we are advanced one step towards a 
knowledge of what inflexion of voice we ought to use 
on one kind of emphasis ; for whenever the emphatic 
word points out a particular sense in exclusion of some 
other sense, this emphatical word adopts the falling in- 
flexion; the wordfight, therefore, in the first, and dun- 



184 ELEMENTS OF 

geon in the last example, must necessarily be pro- 
nounced with the falling inflexion, as they tacitly 
exclude rail, and mere absence from beautiful scenes, 
which are in contradistinction to them. 

Having thus discovered the specific import of one 
emphatic inflexion, it will not be very difficult to trace 
out the other; for as the import of these two inflexions 
may be presumed to be different, we may by ana- 
logy be led to conclude, that as the emphatic word 
which excludes something in contradistinction to it, 
demands the falling inflexion, the emphasis with the 
rising inflexion is to be placed on those words, which, 
though in contradistinction to something else, do not 
absolutely exclude its existence. Let us try this by an 
example. Lothario, in the Fair Penitent, expressing 
his contempt for the opposition of Horatio, says, 

By the joys 
Which yet my soul has uncontrol'd pursu'd, 
I would not turn aside from my least pleasure 
Though all thy force were arm'd to bar my way. 

Fair Penitent, Act ih 

The word thy, in this passage, has the emphasis with 
the rising inflexion ; which intimates, that however 
Lothario might be restrained by the force of others, 
Horatio's force, at least, was too insignificant to con- 
trol him : and as a farther proof that this is the sense 
suggested by the rising inflexion on the word thy, if 
we do but alter the inflexion upon this word, by 
giving it the emphasis with the falling inflexion, we 
shall And, that instead of contempt and sneer, a com- 
pliment will be paid to Horatio ; for it would imply 
as much as if Lothario had said, / would not turn aside 
from my least pleasure, not only though common force, 
but even though thy force, great as it is, were armed 
to bar my way : and that this cannot be the sense of 
the passage is evident. 

Here then we seem arrived at the true principle of 
distinction in emphasis. All emphasis has an antithe- 



ELOCUTION. 185 

sis either expressed or understood; if the emphasis ex- 
cludes the antithesis, the emphatic word has the Jailing 
inflexion; if the emphasis does not exclude the antithe- 
sis, the emphatic word has the rising inflexion. The 
grand distinction, therefore, between the two em- 
phatic inflexions is this ; the falling inflexion affirms 
something in the emphasis, and denies what is opposed 
to it in the antithesis, while the emphasis with the ris- 
ing inflexion affirms something in the emphasis, without 
denying what is opposed to it in the antithesis : the 
former, therefore, from its affirming and denying, 
absolutely, may be called the strong emphasis ; and 
the latter, from its affirming only, and not denying, 
may be called the weak emphasis. As a farther 
trial of the truth of these definitions, let us examine 
them by a few additional examples. 

When Richard the Third rejects the proposal of 
the duke of Norfolk to pardon the rebels, he says, 

Why that, indeed, was our sixth Harry's way, 
Which made his reign one scene of rude commotion : 
I'll be in men's despite a monarch : no, 
Let kings that fear forgive j blows and revenge 
For me. Richard III. Act v. 

In this example, we find several words emphatical ; 
but the words despite and fear particularly so : these 
are always pronounced with the strong emphasis, 
which always adopts the falling inflexion. In the 
foregoing definition of this emphasis, it is said;, that 
the falling inflexion affirms something in the empha- 
sis, and denies what is opposed to it in the antithesis, 
and we accordingly find, that something is affirmed of 
the words despite and fear, and something is denied of 
the antithetic objects suggested by these words, which 
are favour and fearlessness; for the paraphrase of these 
words, when thus emphatical, would he, I'll be, not 
in mens favour , but in their despite, a monarch — and 
let not me who am fear less, but kings that fear, forgive; 
by which we perceive the justness of the definition ; 
for what is affirmed of the emphatie object is denied 



186 ELEMENTS OF 

of the antithetic object ; agreeably to the definition 
of the strong emphasis, or the emphasis with the fall- 
ing inflexion. Another example will serve farther to 
illustrate the nature of this species of emphasis. 

When Cato is encouraging his little senate to hold 
out against Caesar to the last, he says, 

Why should Rome fall a mbnient ere her time ? 

The emphasis, with the falling inflexion on the 
word moment, which is the inflexion it is always pro- 
nounced with, suggests an antithesis opposed to a mo- 
ment, which antithesis is a very short time ; and the 
import of this emphasis at length, would be equivalent 
to this : Why should Rome fall not only a little, but 
even a moment before her time? By which paraphrase, 
we see the definition of this emphasis again exempli- 
fied; for something is affirmed of the emphatic ob- 
ject, and something is denied of the antithetic object. 

The import of the emphasis with the rising in- 
flexion, may be exemplified by the following passage. 
Horatio, in the Fair Penitent, taxing Lothario with 
forgery, says, 

'Twas base and poor, unworthy of a mdn, 
To forge a scroll so villainous and loose, 
And mark it with a noble lady's name. 

The word man, in the first line of this example, is the 
emphatic object, which must necessarily have the 
rising inflexion ; because this inflexion intimates, that 
something is affirmed of the emphatic, which is not 
denied of the antithetic object : the antithetic object 
to the word man, we may suppose to be some being 
of a lower order ; and if this emphasis were para- 
phrased, it would run thus: 'Twas base and poor, un- 
worthy of a man, though not unworthy of a brute. And 
thus we find, that in this emphasis, what is affirmed 
of the emphatic object is not denied of the antithetic 
object, agreeably to the definition laid down. 

In the examples which have been hitherto pro- 
duced, the emphasis has always clearly suggested the 



ELOCUTION. 187 

antithesis ; and a paraphrase, formed by producing 
both the emphatic and antithetic object, has readily 
presented itself : but there are many instances, where 
though the antithetic object is equally real, it is not 
so easily made out. In order to facilitate this opera- 
tion, it will be necessary to observe, that the human 
feelings have recourse to the most minute distinctions 
imaginable, for the sake of expressing those feelings 
with precision and force. 

Thus when Lothario, in the Fair Penitent, says to 
Lucilla, 

I see thou hast learn'd to rail. Fair Penitent, Act i. * 

the emphasis with the rising inflexion on the word 
rail, does not suggest any precise antithetic object in 
opposition to it, but an indefinite something more 
excellent than railing, as if he had said, / see thou 
hast learn'd to rail, if thou hast not acquired any art 
more excellent than railing : but whether she has any 
such acquirement, he leaves her to judge. 

In the same manner, when Jane Shore is protesting 
her fidelity to Edward's issue, Gloster answers, 

Tis well — we'll try" the temper of your heart. 

Jane Shore, Act iv. 

the emphasis with the falling inflexion on the word 
try suggests an antithesis, which makes it necessary 
to have recourse to the former speech : in this we 
find Jane Shore give proof of her fidelity by protes- 
tations \ but Gloster replies, 'Tis well, we'll try the 
temper of your heart ; which is perfectly equivalent 
to saying, We will not only prove your fidelity by 
talking, but by trial; and as this amplifies and illus- 
trates the sense of the passage, we may be sure the 
emphasis is properly placed. 

An instance of an antithesis, perhaps still less ob- 
vious, we have in thefollowing line of Richard the 
Third, where Prince Edward apologises for his bro- 
ther's sarcastic ridicule on the duke of Glocester : 



188 ELEMENTS OF 

I hope your grace knows how to Mar with him. 

Richard III. Act in. 

The bear, in this sentence, is the emphatical word, 
and always pronounced with the rising inflexion; but 
though we perceive, at first hearing, the propriety of 
adopting this inflexion, we cannot so readily discover 
the antithetic object intimated by it; it is not till we 
consider the definition of the neuter verb to bear, that 
we find out what is opposed to it ; the word bear, in 
the passage alluded to, indicates supporting a degree 
of displeasure, so as to seem pleased when we are not 
really so ; the antithetic object, therefore, must be, 
being really pleased, and the paraphrase intimated by 
this emphasis will be this : / hope your grace knows 
how to bear, or to seem pleased with him, though not 
to be really pleased with him. 

Sometimes the sense of a passage makes it difficult 
to determine whether we must use the emphasis with 
the rising or falling inflexion ; and in this case (though 
it seldom happens) we may adopt either the one or 
the other indifferently. Thus when Horatio, in the 
Fair Penitent, tells Calista that he came to her as a 
friend, she answers, 

You are my husband's friend, the friend of Al'tamont ! 

The words husband and Altamont, in this line, are em- 
phatical ; if they are both pronounced with the falling 
inflexion, it imports an absolute denial of the anti- 
thetic object, which is the friendship of Horatio to her; 
if we pronounce them with the rising inflexion, it only 
insinuates that he is not her friend: and this latter em- 
phasis seems the most suitable to the situation of Ca- 
lista, as at that time she has not so far broke terms 
with Horatio, as absolutely to deny that he is her 
friend ; and, therefore, the inflexion which affirms 
something in the emphasis, without denying the an- 
tithesis, is the inflexion she ought to adopt. 

Thus have I been led insensibly by my subject into 
intricacies and distinctions, whither, perhaps, but few 



ELOCUTION. 189 

of my readers will be able to follow me. I might, 
indeed, have contented myself with less minuteness 
and precision, but the speculation appeared too cu- 
rious and useful to be slightly treated. If what has 
been observed of these emphatic inflexions be true, 
we may take occasion to contemplate how few are 
the principles on which Divine Wisdom constructs 
operations of the greatest extent and variety : and it 
may be presumed, that by being acquainted with 
these principles, we shall be better enabled to enter 
into the views of Providence in the gift of speech, by 
perfecting and regulating it according to these views. 
By a knowledge of the principles of grammar, we 
are enabled to express our thoughts with greater 
force, precision, and perspicuity ; and it cannot be 
doubted that a knowledge of the grammar of pro- 
nunciation, if it may be called so, will powerfully 
tend to the same useful purpose. 



190 ELEMENTS OF 



Practical System of Emphasis. 

Having endeavoured to show the nature of em- 
phasis, properly so called, and attempted to distin- 
guish it into its several kinds, according to the in- 
flexion of voice it adopts ; having made some effort to 
ascertain the peculiar character of each emphatic 
inflexion, and by this means afforded some assistance 
to a discovery of the true emphasis in doubtful 
cases ; it will be necessary, in the next place, to en- 
deavour to reduce what has been said into a practical 
system, and to extend the former observations on 
emphatic inflexion to the pronunciation of every dif- 
ferent species of emphasis. Hitherto we have treated 
chiefly of that emphasis, which may be called single; 
that is, either where the two emphatic words in 
antithesis with each other are expressed ; or where 
but one of them is expressed, and the antithesis to 
it is implied or understood. But besides these, 
there are instances where two emphatic words are 
opposed to two others, and sometimes where three 
emphatic words are opposed to three others in the 
same sentence. Let us take a view of each of these 
different kinds of emphasis in its order : 

f Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent consti- 
1 tution. 

2 You were paid to fight against Alexander, and not to rail at him. 

fThe pleasures of the imagination are not so grbss as those of 
\ s£nse, nor so refined as those of the understanding. 

f" He rais'd a mortal to the skies. 
X She drew an angel down. 

In the first example, we find the emphatic word 
indifferent suggest an antithesis not expressed, namely, 



ELOCUTION. 191 

not a good constitution ; this may be called the single 
emphasis implied. 

In the second example, the words fight and rail are 
in antithesis with each other, and do not suggest any 
other antithetic objects ; and this may be called the 
single emphasis expressed. 

In the next example, the emphatic words gross and 
refined are opposed to each other, and contrasted with 
sense and understanding ; and this mutual correspond- 
ence and opposition of four parts to each other may 
not improperly be termed the double emphasis. 

When three antithetic objects are opposed to three, 
as in N° 4, we may call the assemblage the treble 
emphasis. 



Single Emphasis implied and expressed. 

In the single emphasis implied, we find the inflexions 
are so strictly appropriated to the nature of the 
emphasis, that using one instead of the other would 
inevitably alter the sense : this has been abundantly 
proved in the preceding chapter. The same may be 
observed (as we shall see presently) of the single em- 
phasis expressed; but this appropriation of inflexion to 
sense does not seem to hold so strictly where the em- 
phasis is double, or treble ; for here, as the antithetic 
objects are almost always expressed, and there is 
seldom any danger of a mistake in the sense, we shall 
not wonder to find harmony claim her indisputable 
rights in making this sense most agreeable to the ear. 

But though the inflexions of the double and treble 
emphasis frequently yield to the harmony of arrange- 
ment, the single emphasis expressed requires its spe- 
cific inflexion on each part; for in the second ex- 
ample : ' 

You were paid to fight against Alexander, and not to rail at 
him ; 



192 ELEMENTS OF 

here, if we were to place the rising inflexion on Jight, 
and the falling on rail, as the harmony of cadence 
would intimate, we should soon find, that in the single 
emphasis expressed, there is as strict an appropriation 
of inflexion to the sense of the emphasis as when but 
one part of the antithesis is expressed in the single 
emphasis implied. As the inflexions in this species 
of emphasis, therefore, are of much more importance, 
and much more difficult to settle, than those of the 
double and treble emphasis, it may not be improper, 
before we enter on the latter, to extend our specula- 
tions a little on the former. 

Whatever may be the reason why the positive 
member of a sentence should adopt the emphasis 
with the falling inflexion, and the negative member 
the rising ; certain it is, that this appropriation of 
emphatic inflexion to a positive or negative signifi- 
cation, runs through the whole system of pronuncia- 
tion. Agreeably to this arrangement, we constantly 
find good readers finish negative sentences with the 
rising inflexion, where ordinary readers are sure to 
use the falling inflexion, and to drop the voice ; and, 
perhaps, this different pronunciation forms one of 
the greatest differences between good and bad 
readers : thus, in the following sentence from the 
Oration of Demosthenes on the Crown translated by 
Dr. Leland : 



Observe, then, iEschines ; our ancestors acted thus in both these 
instances ; not that they acted for their benefactors, not that they 
saw no danger in these expeditions. Such considerations never 
could induce them to abandon those who fled to their protection. 
N6, from the nobler motives of glory and renown, they devoted their 
services to the distressed. 



There are few good readers who will not pro- 
nounce the first two sentences of this passage so as 
to terminate them with the rising inflexion : and 



ELOCUTION. 193 

this manner of reading them we find agreeable to 
the paraphrase suggested by the falling inflexion 
adopted by the positive signification of the last sen- 
tence ; by which means all the sentences of this pas- 
sage form parts of one thought, and may be reduced 
to the definition of the emphasis with the falling in- 
flexion ; as, They acted from the nobler motives of 
glory and renown, and. not inferior motives. 

Wherever, therefore, a negative sentence, or mem- 
ber of a sentence, is in opposition to a positive sen- 
tence, or member of a sentence, we find it usually 
adopt the rising inflexion : and often where there is 
no correspondent positive member or sentence ex- 
pressed, if the negative member or sentence would 
admit of a positive, and that the sense of this positive 
is agreeable to the general tenor of the composition ; 
in this case, likewise, we find the negative member or 
sentence adopt the rising inflexion. Thus, in the 
same oration, Demosthenes, speaking of the public 
works he had erected, says, 

As to those public works, so much the object of your ridicule, 
they, undoubtedly, demand a due share of honour and applause ; 
but I rate them far beneath the great merit of my administration. 
It is not with stories nor bricks that I' have fortified the city. It is 
not from works like these that I' derive my reputation. Would you 
know my' methods of fortifying ? Examine, and you will find them 
in the arms, the towns, the territories, the harbours 1 have secured j 
the navies, the troops, the armies I have raised. 

The two middle negative sentences of this passage 
have not any correspondent positive sentences pre- 
ceding or following them ; but the rising inflexion on 
these sentences suggests a meaning so compatible 
with the mind of the speaker, that we cannot doubt 
of its being the true one ; for it is equivalent to 
saying, It is not with works like these that T have 
fortified the city, hut with something much better. 
This will receive a farther illustration from another 
passage of the same orator. 

For if you now pronounce, that, as my public conduct hath not 
been right, Ctegiphon must stand condemned, it must be thought 



194 ELEMENTS OF 

that yourselves had acted wrong, not that you owe your present 
state to the caprice of fortune. But it cannot be. No, my coun- 
trymen ! It cannot be you have acted wrong, in encountering 
danger bravely, for the liberty and safety of all Greece. No ! by 
those generous souls of ancient times, who were exposed at Mara- 
thon ! By those who stood arrayed at Plataea ! By those who 
encountered the Persian fleet at Salamis ! who fought at Artemi- 
sium ! By all those illustrious sons of Athens, whose remains lie 
deposited in the public monuments ! All of whom received the same 
honourable interment from their country : Not those only who 
prevailed, not those only who were victorious. And with reason. 
What was the part of gallant men they all performed j their sucfeess 
was such as the supreme director of the world dispensed to each. 



The two last members of the first sentence we 
find naturally adopt their specific inflexions ; that 
is, the positive member, the falling on wrong, and 
the negative the rising on fortune. The succeeding 
sentence has a negation in it that suits the rising in-, 
flexion much better than the falling, and therefore 
Greece has very properly the rising inflexion ; and 
the latter members, not those only who prevailed, not 
those only who were victorious, will not admit of the 
falling inflexion without an evident prejudice to the 
sense. 

Plausible, however, as this doctrine may appear, 
it is not pretended that it is universally true. It is 
certain, that a negative member of a sentence may 
often have the falling, and a positive member the 
rising inflexion : but it is as certain, that where the 
sentence is so constructed as to require the rising in- 
flexion on the negative, and the falling on the positive 
part of the sentence, there is always both greater force 
and harmony. 

From these observations, therefore, we may con- 
clude, that in a single emphasis where harmony is 
not grossly violated, sense ought always to predomi- 
nate : And hence will arise this general rule : When- 
ever a sentence is composed of a positive and negative 
part, if this positive and negative imports that some- 
thing is affirmed of one of the things which is denied 



ELOCUTION. 195 

of the other, the positive must have the falling, and 
the negative the rising inflexion. 

Small as the extent of this rule is, it appears to 
throw a considerable light on the doctrine of em- 
phasis ; and particularly where the sense of a passage 
is not very obvious, and where harmony admits of a 
diversity of inflexion. Let us endeavour to reduce 
these speculations to practice. In a passage of Mil- 
ton's Paradise Lost, the angel, speaking of Nina rod, 
says, 

Hunting (and men, not blasts, shall be his game.) 

P. L. B. xii. 

Every ear agrees to lay the emphasis with the fall- 
ing inflexion on men, and the emphasis with the 
rising inflexion on beasts, agreeably to the rule just 
laid down ; but when, in the same author, we meet 
with a description of Satan's coming down to be re- 
venged on men in these words, — 

For now 
Satan, now first inflam'd with rage, came down ; 
The tempter, ere the accuser of mankind, 
To wreak on innocent frail man his loss 
Of that first battle, and his flight to hell. 

P. L. B. iv. 

In the third line of this passage we find no such 
certainty in adapting a different inflexion to the two 
emphatic words tempter and accuser, as in the former 
instance. 

A little reflection, however, obliges us to give the 
falling inflexion to tempter, and the rising to accuser 4 
but the reason of this disposition does not readily 
occur. A little farther reflexion will induce us to re- 
solve this arrangement of inflexion into the foregoing 
rule. For the word ere, signifying before, relates to 
the word now, in the former line ; and the paraphrase 
of this emphasis is, The tempter now, at this time, 
not the accuser, as he was afterwards ; whereas a 
transposition of emphatic inflexion, that is, the rising 

o 2 



196 ELEMENTS OF 

inflexion on tempter, and the falling on accuser, would 
infallibly suggest this sense — The tempter, not only 
before he was something more inimical than accuser, 
but before he was even the accuser of mankind. This 
paraphrase agrees so ill with the sense of the passage, 
and the former so well, that we need not hesitate a 
moment about the true emphasis. 

The reason for placing the emphasis with the rising 
inflexion on accuser, and that with the falling on 
tempter, seems to arise from the same principle as 
that of placing the emphasis with the falling inflexion 
on the positive, and that with the rising inflexion on 
the negative part of a sentence ; for the priority of one 
thing to another is reducible to its being that thing at 
that time, and not another thing ; and the preferable- 
ness of one thing to another is equal to the choice 
being fixed on one thing and not another. Thus the 
following phrase : i( I would rather teach the art of 
" poisoning than that of sophistry," may be reduced 
to this : If I must teach one of these arts, I will teach 
poisoning, and not sophistry. But if one of these 
parts of the antithesis admits of emphasis, that is, if it 
appears to be the intention of the speaker not to say 
merely that one thing is prior or preferable to another, 
but that one of these things in the strictest sense of 
the word, and opposed to something of smaller im- 
port, is prior or preferable to -another ; or, if one of 
these things is said to be prior or preferable to another 
thing, taken in its strictest sense, and opposedto some 
other thiag of less importance ; in this case, I say, the 
emphasis with the falling inflexion is on that part of 
the antithesis which intimates something of more 
importance than is simply expressed. Thus, in the 
following sentence, 

I would die sooner than mention it, 

if we mean only to declare our choice between 
dying and mentioning, the falling inflexion must be 
placed on die, as this is the part of the sentence that 



ELOCUTION. 197 

corresponds to the positive part of the declaration : 
If we would express this choice with emphasis, so as 
to show that we would not only undergo great diffi- 
culties, but that we would even die sooner than men- 
tion it, the same inflexion is preserved on the same 
word, with a small addition of emphatic force : If it 
were understood that we would die sooner than men- 
tion it, but, for fear mention should be taken in too 
large a sense, we wish to express a resolution of dying 
before we would discover the smallest part of it ; in 
this case, I say, we should lay the strong emphasis 
and falling inflexion on mention, which would inti- 
mate a new antithesis, and be equivalent to saying, 
/ would not only die before I would declare or relate it, 
but even before I would mention it ; and here we And 
the word die assume the weak emphasis and rising 
inflexion, as the question in this case is not so much 
about dying, as about the degree of mention we are 
resolved not to make. 

But if both parts of the comparison be understood, 
and therefore to be taken simply and without em- 
phasis, and it is the intention of the speaker to declare, 
with emphasis, the priority or preferableness only ; in 
this case, the comparative word has the strong em- 
phasis and falling inflexion, and the word compared 
has the weak emphasis and rising inflexion. Thus 
Gay, in the fable of the Elephant and Bookseller, 
makes the latter offer pay to the former for writing 
satire ; and in order to show there is no necessity to 
hire beasts to prey on men, while men, by envy, prey 
on each other, says, 

Envy's a sharper spur than pay. 

Here the word sharper has the strong emphasis and 
falling inflexion, as envy is not said, with emphasis, 
to be a sharper spur than pay ; for envy is not here 
opposed to any other disposition, or to a disposition 
less malevolent ; nor is pay opposed to any other, or 



198 ELEMENTS OF 

to a less reward : but the emphasis is confined to the 
comparative word sharper ; as if he had said, Envy is 
not only a spur equally sharp, but sharper than pay. 

On these principles we may account for the em- 
phasis which a good actor always places on the first 
part of the antithesis in the following examples : 

Ham. What ! look'd he frowningly ? 

Hor. A countenance more in sorrow than in anger. Shaks. 

It is a custom 
More honoured in the breach than the observance. Ibid. 

He is more knave than fool. Proverbial phrase. 

Oh ! the blood mbre stirs, 
To rouse a lion than to start a hare. 

Shakes. Hen. IV. Part I. Act I. 

This last example is the parallel of that from Gay ; 
and it is presumed, that a judicious actor would lay 
the great stress, that is, the emphasis with the falling 
inflexion, on the word more, and give the words lion 
and hare the weak emphasis and rising inflexion. For 
Hotspur, in this passage, is talking of dangers, and is 
not so much comparing them as the advantages that 
arise from them ; and the paraphrase of this emphasis 
would be, the resistance we make to great and small 
danger is not equal; a great danger stirs the blood 
much more than a small one. 

This paraphrasing or drawing out the signification 
of emphatic words seems the best guide where the 
sense is not quite obvious, and will lead us to decide 
in many doubtful cases, where nothing but the taste 
of the reader is commonly appealed to. To illustrate 
this still farther, let us examine a line in Otway's 
Venice Preserved, where Pierre, expatiating on the 
wretched state of Venice, says, 

Justice is lame as well as blind among us. 

The phrase, as well as, signifies nothing more than 
parity /and is nearly similar in sense to the conjunc- 



ELOCUTION. 199 

tion and ; if, therefore, we lay the falling inflexion on 
blind, it would be equivalent to saying, Justice is not 
only lame, but blind ; and this is a piece of informa- 
tion we did not want : for justice is always supposed 
to be blind. But the falling inflexion on lame, and 
the rising on blind, is equivalent to saying, Justice is 
not only blind, as she is every where else, but in Venice 
she is lame as well as blind. And that this is the true 
meaning of the passage, cannot be doubted, If the 
poet had written the line in this manner, 

Justice is as lame as she is blind among us : 

the falling inflexion placed on blind, would imply, 
that Justice is not only very lame, but even as lame as 
she is blind. Thus we see the sense varies with the 
different emphasis we adopt, and is never fully and 
forcibly displayed without the kind of emphasis that 
is peculiarly suited to it. 

But it may be asked, since the sense must be fully 
conceived before we can adopt the emphasis to the 
words, of what use is it to ring all these changes upon 
the different emphases, when, though we conceive 
them ever so distinctly, they will only suggest one 
particular sense, but will never tell us which we shall 
adopt as most suitable to the meaning of the author ? 
To this it may be answered, that whatever tends to 
show the different import of each kind of emphasis, 
enables us the better to judge of the suitableness or 
unsuitableness of each emphasis to the sense. This 
unfolding and displaying of what is suggested by each 
emphasis is that assistance to the understanding which 
spectacles are to the eye ; magnifying glasses are not 
calculated for those whose powers of sight are so 
strong and clear as to have no need of them, nor for 
those who have no sight at all ; but for such as wish to 
view objects distinctly, and with less labour than with- 
out this assistance. Where the sense is clear, we need 
no such assistance ; but where the sense is obscure 
and dubious, it can scarcely be doubted that display- 



200 ELEMENTS OF 

ing and unfolding it by such paraphrases as are sug- 
gested by the application of different kinds of em- 
phasis, will tend greatly to take away the ambiguity, 
will show which kind of emphasis is most suitable to 
the sense, and enable us to pronounce with greater 
confidence and security. 

From what has been said of the nature of emphasis, 
it will evidently follow, that pronunciation is a kind 
of supplement to written language. As vivacity and 
force depend greatly on brevity, and brevity border 
naturally on obscurity ; in order to preserve the 
meaning without losing the force, pronunciation in- 
terposes, and, as it were, supplies the ellipsis in the 
written words by a stress and inflexion of voice, 
which imply what belongs to the sense, but which is 
not sufficiently obvious without oral utterance. Hence 
we may conclude, that language is never perfect till 
it is delivered. A just pronunciation brings to view 
its latent and elliptical senses, without clogging it with 
repetitions which would retard its communication and 
enfeeble its strength. Thus by pronouncing the fol- 
lowing sentence, Exercise and temperance strengthen 
an indifferent constitution : By pronouncing this sen- 
tence, I say, with the following inflexion on the word 
indifferent, I convey as much to the understanding as 
if I had said, Exercise and temperance strengthen not 
only a common constitution, but even an indifferent con- 
stitution. And the inferiority of the latter sentence, 
from its tautology and pleonastic tardiness, suffi- 
ciently shows the necessity of a just pronunciation to 
supply the ellipses of written language. 



^Double Emphasis. 

The double emphasis, as we have already observed 
in page 191, seems most frequently to be regulated 
by the harmony of the sentence ; for as it is a general 
rule., that the rising inflexion must take place in the 



ELOCUTION. 201 

middle of such a sentence, the second branch of the 
first member must necessarily have the rising inflex- 
ion, and the rest of the branches must have such an 
emphasis and inflexion as contribute most to the har- 
mony of the period. With this general rule, that the 
two parts of the antithesis have each of them the two 
different inflexions, arranged in an opposite order; 
that is, as two inflexions in the same member cannot 
be alike, if the second branch of the first member has 
the rising, the first branch must, of course, have the 
falling inflexion : and as the last branch of the second 
member forms the period, and therefore requires the 
falling, the first branch of this member must necessa- 
rily have the rising inflexion ; this is the arrange- 
ment of inflexion which seems universally adopted 
by the ear, as it will be found, upon experiment, no 
other is so various and musical. An example will 
soon convince us of this : 

The pleasures of the imagination, taken in their full extent, are 
not so gross as those of s4nse, nor so refined as those of the under- 
standing. Spectator, No. 411. 

In this example, the ear perceives the necessity of 
adopting the rising inflexion on the word sense ; and, 
for the sake of variety, lays the falling inflexion on 
gross ; and, by the same anticipation, perceiving the 
period must have the falling inflexion on imagination, 
adopts the rising inflexion on refined; by these means, 
the greatest variety is obtained, and the sense invio- 
lably preserved ; for if we were to repeat this passage 
with contrary inflexions on the first member, we 
should soon perceive the impropriety : 

The pleasures of imagination, taken in their full extent, are not so 
oss as those of sense, nor so refined as those of the understanding. 



Here we perceive the whole sentence is monoton- 
ous, by adopting the same inflexions in the same 
order on the first and last members ; and the sense 



202 ELEMENTS OF 

is manifestly injured by laying the strong emphasis 
and falling inflexion in the middle of the sentence, 
contrary to the general rule. 

The nature of the double emphasis expressed, re- 
specting the inflexion of voice which each antithetic 
part adopts rather in compliance with the ear than 
for the purpose of enforcing the sense, will be farther 
illustrated by the treble emphasis. 



Treble Emphasis. 

The treble emphasis, where -all the parts are ex- 
pressed, occurs but seldom ; and when it does, there 
is seldom any difficulty in pronouncing it; for as each 
part has its correspondent part expressed, there is 
scarcely any necessity to enforce one more than the 
other, and they easily fall into a just and harmonious 
arrangement. Thus, in the following lines : 

Ste in her girls again is courted; 
r go a wdoing with my bbys : 

every emphatical word adopts that inflexion which 
the harmony of the verse would necessarily require, 
if there were not an emphatical word in the whole 
couplet. This arrangement of emphatic inflexions 
almost always takes place when every part of the treble 
emphasis is expressed ; but when the double emphasis 
has two of its parts so emphatical as to imply two 
antithetic objects not expressed, and so to form a 
treble emphasis implied only ; in this case, I say, it 
is not so easily determined how we are to place the 
emphatic inflexions. Thus in the following passage 
of Milton (Paradise Lost, Book I. v. 262), 

To reign is worth ambition, though in hell ; 
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven : 

the words heaven and hell, in the last line, besides the 



ELOCUTION. 203 

common antithesis which they form to each other, 
seem to have each of them an antithetic object distinct 
and separate, and so to form a treble emphasis instead 
of a double one ; for the emphasis with the falling 
inflexion on hell, seems to intimate, that to reign is so 
desirable, that it is better to reign, not only where it 
is attended with its usual cares, but even in hell, 
where it is attended with torments ; and the same 
emphatic inflexion on heaven implies, that servitude 
is not only detestable where it has its usual inconve- 
niences, but even in heaven, where it is attended with 
pleasures. These paraphrases, implied by the em- 
phasis with the falling inflexion, seem not only to 
agree with the sense of the author, but necessarily 
to belong to it: and yet so agreeable is a contrary 
arrangement of inflexion to the ear, that we seldom 
find this passage pronounced in this manner. 

Let a whole assembly be desired to read these lines 
in Milton, and a single person will scarcely be found 
whose ear will not draw him into the common ar- 
rangement of emphatic inflexion, though contrary to 
the strongest sense of the passage : 

To reign is worth ambition, though in hell 5 
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. 

Most readers, I say, in repeating these lines, will 
pronounce the last line as it is marked ; that is, they 
will lay the falling inflexion on reign, and the rising 
inflexion on hell, in order to diversify it from the two 
concluding branches of the antithesis ; that is, the 
line will be exactly the same with respect to inflexion 
and emphasis, as the following : 

Not so gross as those of sense, nor so refined as those of the 
understanding. 

But if we attend to the sense of Milton, we shall 
find that the word hell, though in the middle of the 
antithesis, seems necessarily to require the falling in- 



204 ELEMENTS OF 

flexion ; for, as we have observed, Satan's ambition to 
reign is so great, that he wishes to reign even in 
hell; that is not where reigning has its usual cares 
attending it, but even in hell, where it is accompanied 
with torments suited to his superior wickedness. If we 
wish to convey this sense strongly, which the words 
of the author will certainly admit of, we must neces- 
sarily place the emphasis with the falling inflexion 
on the word hell, and neglect the music of the line, 
which would require another arrangement : for if it 
is an invariable maxim, that where force and harmony 
are inconsistent, the preference must be given to the 
former ; without all question, this passage ought to 
be read, not as it commonly is, in this manner : 

* To reign is worth ambition, though in hell ; 
Better to reign in hell than s&ve in Keavn. 

But in this : 

To reign is worth ambition, though in hell ; 
Better to reign in hell than se'rve in heav'n. 

An emphasis of exactly the same kind is found in a 
saying of Julius Caesar, who, when he was passing 
through an obscure village in Gaul, made use of 
these words : 

I would rather be the first man in that village than the second in 
Rome. 

The general harmony of pronunciation invariably 
inclines us, at the first reading of this passage, to 
lay the emphasis with the falling inflexion on first ; 
that with the rising on village ; the rising likewise 
on second, and the falling on Rome ; but if we wish 



* Mr. Garrick, upon being asked to read these lines, repeated 
them at first in the former mode of placing the emphatic inflexions ; 
but, upon re-considering them, approved of the latter. 



ELOCUTION. 205 

strongly to enforce the sense of the words, we must 
necessarily lay the rising inflexion on first, and the 
falling on village, in the following manner : 

I would rather be the first man in the tillage than the second in 
Rbme. 

For in this pronunciation we strongly enforce the 
desire he had for superiority, by making him prefer 
it not only in a common place, but even in that village, 
to inferiority, even in Rome. If this latter mode of 
reading this sentence seems too turgid and emphatic 
for the historic style, what are we to think of that 
general rule that seems universally to be acknow- 
ledged by all readers ; namely, that the sense of an 
author ought always to be enforced to the utmost, 
let the harmony be what it will ? This maxim, 
however, I take to be rashly adopted ; for, as we have 
before observed, reading seems to be a compromise 
between the rights of sense and sound. Obscurity is 
the greatest possible defect in reading ; and no har- 
mony whatever will make amends for it : but if the 
sense of a passage be sufficiently clear, it seems no 
infringement on the rights of the understanding to 
give this sufficiently clear sense an harmonious utter- 
ance. In this case, it is, perhaps, necessary to dis- 
tinguish between clear sense and strong sense ; the 
first is that which puts the author's meaning beyond 
the possibility of mistake ; the latter, as it were, adds 
something to it, and places the same in such a point 
of view as to give it, though not a different, yet a 
greater force than what the words immediately sug- 
gest ; but if this additional force becomes harsh, 
quaint, or affected, the ear claims her rights in favour 
of harmony; and good taste will always admit her 
claim, when the rights of the understanding are suf- 
ficiently secured. 

Thus in that noble sentiment of Cato : 



206 ELEMENTS OF 

A day, an hour, of virtuous liberty 
Is worth a whole eternity in bondage. 

To pronounce this passage witli the greatest force, 
we ought to lay the emphasis with the falling inflex- 
ion on eternity, as this would suggest a paraphrase 
perfectly illustrative of the sense, which is, that a day 
or an hour of virtuous liberty is not only worth more 
than the longest finite duration in bondage, but even 
a whole eternity. This pronunciation, however, would 
necessarily give the rising inflexion to bondage, which 
would conclude the passage so inharmoniously, that 
the ear finds itself obliged to neglect this so forcible 
expression, and content itself with placing the rising 
inflexion on eternity, for the sake of the harmony of 
the cadence : and as the plain import of the word 
eternity is sufficiently strong and emphatical, sense is 
no great loser by the sacrifice : if, however, the 
thought could have been so disposed as to have made 
a word, so susceptible of force as eternity, adopt the 
falling' inflexion and conclude the line, the expres- 
sion, it is presumed, would have been still stronger. 
Let us suppose, for instance, the two last lines had 
stood thus : 

A day, an hour, in virtuous liberty 
Outweighs, in bondage, an eternity : 

I do not contend that this alteration is not greatly 
inferior to the original in point of composition, 
from the necessity of adopting words less suitable; 
but, 1 think, I may appeal to the ear of every criti- 
cal speaker for the superiority of the latter, with 
rsspect to the force and harmony of pronunciation. 
In the same manner it may be observed, that if the 
words in Milton were transposed as in the following 
line, 

Better in hell to resign, than serve in heav'n, 



ELOCUTION. 207 

the falling inflexion on hell, and the rising on reign, 
would preserve both the force and harmony ; but 
I am far from presuming to judge whether the line 
would be better by this alteration. The same may 
be observed of the transposition of the saying of 
Caesar : 

In tMt village I would rather be the first man, than the second in 
Rome. 

By this arrangement we see the strongly emphatic 
words, which require the falling inflexion, are in the 
beginning and end of the sentence, and the two em- 
phatic words that require the rising inflexion, in the 
middle ; and, consequently, the inflexions on the 
two first and two last emphatic words are in a dif- 
ferent order. 

But if a treble emphasis implied will often, for 
the sake of harmony, neglect such an emphasis as 
produces the greatest force, there is a much greater 
necessity for this sacrifice to sound where every part 
of the treble emphasis is expressed. Thus, in the 
following manner : 

He* raised a mortal to the skies, 
She drew an angel dbwn. 

If, for the sake of showing that Timotheus did not 
only raise a mortal very high, but even to the 
skies ; if, I say, for the sake of intimating this 
sense, we lay the emphasis with the falling inflexion 
on skies, we shall ruin the harmony of the couplet : 
The same may be observed if we lay the same em- 
phasis on angel; for though this would intimate that 
St. Cecilia did not draw down a common being, but 
even an angel, yet this intimation would make no 
amends for the quaintness and discord this inflexion 
would occasion ; but if these lines had been so con- 
structed as to admit of the emphasis with the falling 
inflexion on these words, perhaps we should not 



208 ELEMENTS OF 

have found either sense or harmony the worse for 
it. 

He to the sines a mdrtal raised, 
An cingel she drew dbwn. 

Thus we perceive there are some things clear and 
decided, others ambiguous and indeterminate : the 
best decision in the latter case is, to observe the pro- 
nunciation of the best readers and speakers, and to 
mark it by the inflexions which are here made use 
of. A notation of this kind, will enable us to collect 
examples of different modes of pronunciation, and 
to form an opinion from examples of the best autho- 
rity : by this means we shall be able to give some 
stability to those sounds which have hitherto been 
thought too fleeting and evanescent for retrospec- 
tion. 



General Emphasis. 

Hitherto emphasis has been considered as appro- 
priated to a particular word in a sentence, the pecu- 
liar sense of which demanded an increase of force, 
and an inflexion correspondent to that sense ; we shall 
now endeavour to throw some light upon that em- 
phatic force, which when the composition is very 
animated, and approaches to a close, we often lay 
upon several words in succession ; this successive 
emphatic force does not, like the former, suggest any 
particular meaning excluded by it, and therefore 
may not improperly be called a general emphasis. 
This emphasis is not so much regulated by the sense 
of the author as by the taste and feelings of the 
reader, and therefore does not admit of any certain 
rule ; but as it is very strong and energetic when it is 
happily applied, it may not be useless to endeavour 
to give such rules as will naturally arise from a few 
examples. 



ELOCUTION. £09 

When Lucius in Cato seems to have exhausted 
every topic in favour of giving up a hopeless war and 
submitting to Caesar, he concludes with this empha- 
tic period : 

What men could do, 
" Is done already : heaven and earth will witness, 
If Rome must fall, that we are innocent. 

The common manner of pronouncing this last line is 
to lay an emphasis with the rising inflexion on the 
word must, which is certainly a very just one, and 
may be called the particular emphasis ; but if we 
were to place an emphasis on each of the four words, 
if Rome must fall ; that is, the emphasis with the 
rising inflexion on if, that with the falling on Rome 
and must, and the rising onfall ; if these emphases, I 
say, are pronounced with a distinct pause after each, 
it is inconceivable the force that will be given to 
these few words. 

In the same manner, when Demosthenes is de- 
scribing the former helpless state of Athens, he says, 

There was a time, then, my fellow-citizens, when the Lacaedemo- 
mans were sovereign masters both by sea and land ; when their troops 
and forts surrounded the entire circuit of Attica ; when they pos- 
sessed Euboea, Tanagra, the whole Boeotian district, Megara, iEgina, 
Cleone, and the other islands ; while this state had not one ship, tibt 
title wall. 

The general mode of pronouncing the last member 
of this sentence is, to lay an emphasis on the last word, 
wall : this is unquestionably proper ; but if we lay an 
emphasis on the last three words, that is, the falling 
on not, the rising on one, and the falling on wall, and 
pause very distinctly between each, we shall be at no 
loss to decide on the superiority of this general em- 
phasis. We have another instance of the force of 
this general emphasis, in the beautiful climax of 
Zanga, in the tragedy of the Revenge : 



210 ELEMENTS OF 

That's truly great ! what think you 'twas set up 

The Greek and Roman name in such a lustre, 

But doing right in stern despite of nature, 

Shutting their ears to all her little cries, 

When great august and godlike justice call'd. 

At Aulis one pour'd out a daughter's life, 

And gain'd more glory than by all his wars ; 

Another slew a sister in just rage ; 

A third, the theme of all succeeding times, 

Gave to the cruel axe a darling son : 

Nay more, for justice some devote themselves, 

As he at Carthage an immortal name ! 

Yet there is bne step ttft above their fable - 7 

A wife, bride, mistress, unenjbyed, 

Do that, and tread upon the Greek and Roman glory. 

Act iv. Scene last. 



In pronouncing this passage, we shall find the ge- 
nerality of readers content themselves with laying an 
emphasis upon the word one in the thirteenth line, 
and pronounce the two succeeding words step and 
left without any particular force ; but if we give em- 
phatic force to each of these three words, and at the 
same time pause considerably after every word, we 
shall find the whole line glow with meaning and 
energy : for though pronouncing the word one with 
the emphasis and rising inflexion, and the succeeding 
words step and left with the same inflexion, without 
emphasis, would undoubtedly bring out the author's 
sense ; yet pronouncing bne and step both with em- 
phasis and the falling inflexion seems to snatch a 
grace beyond the reach of art, and fall in with the 
enthusiasm of the poet. The emphasis with the 
falling inflexion and increasing force, on the four 
successive words wife, bride, mistress, unenjbyed, in 
the last line but one, crowns the whole climax with 
suitable force and harmony. 

But though general emphasis may, at first sight, 
seem to be an exception to the general rule, yet, upon 
a nearer inspection, it will be found strictly conform- 
able to it. Emphasis has been defined to be another 



ELOCUTION. 211 

word for opposition or contradistinction ; now where, 
it may be asked, is the opposition or contradistinc- 
tion to the words if and Rome and fall in the sentence, 

Heav'n and earth will witness, 
If Rome must fall, that we are innocent ! 

It may be answered, that the mind, in endeavouring 
to express things strongly, seems to have recourse to 
a redundancy of sounds as well as of words ; the ad- 
jetive own and the substantive self are superfluous 
words, if we regard only their mere grammatical im- 
port. For the sentences, this booh is mine, and / 
wrote it, literally signify as much as this book is my 
own, and / wrote it myself; but the latter sentences 
may be said to be emphatical, and the former not. 
To the same end our language has adopted an auxili- 
ary verb, to express action or passion with empha- 
sis, in a shorter way than perhaps in any other tongue. 
Thus, when Othello says to Desdemona — 

Perdition catch my soul but I do love thee — 

it is equivalent to saying, / actually and really love 
thee, — in contradistinction to the appearance of love, 
which so often supplies the place of the reality : and 
this seems to lead us to the latent antithesis of the 
general emphasis, which is, the appearance, as dis- 
tinguished from the reality or the similitude, from the 
identity ; and therefore, though the words if, Rome, 
and fall, taken separately, have no direct antithetic 
ideas, yet, when united together by successive em- 
phases, they imply a reality and identity of situation 
in opposition to every possible contrary situation, 
which contrary situation becomes the real antithetic 
object of the emphatic words, and thus brings the 
general emphasis under the same definition as par- 
ticular emphasis, and shows that both are but other 
words for opposition, contradistinction, or contrast. 

p2 



212 ELEMENTS OF 

From tins view of emphasis, we may perceive the 
propriety of laying a stress upon some of the most 
insignificant words when the language is impassioned, 
in order to create a general force, which sufficiently 
justifies the seeming impropriety. Thus, in the fol- 
lowing sentence — The very man whom he had loaded 
with favours was the first to accuse him — a stressjupon 
the word man will give considerable force to the sen- 
tence — the very man, &c. If to the stress on this word 
we give one to the word very, the force will be con- 
siderably increased — the very man, &c. But if to 
these words we unite a stress on the word the, the 
emphasis will then attain its utmost pitch, and be 
emphatic, as it may be called, in the superlative de- 
gree — the very man, &c. And this general emphasis, 
it may be observed, has identity for its object, the 
antithesis to which is appearance, similitude, or the 
least possible diversity. 

Intermediate or Elliptical Member. 

It now remains to say something of an emphatic 
circumstance, which, though not mentioned by any 
of our writers on the subject, seems of the utmost im- 
portance to an accurate idea of pronunciation. 

It has been already observed, that emphatic force 
is relative : it may be likewise observed, that it is not 
relative only with respect to the inferior force which 
is given to the unemphatic words ; it is relative, also, 
with respect to the inflexion on those words that are 
not emphatical ; that is, emphasis derives as much 
force from pronouncing those words which are not 
emphatical with a peculiar inflexion, as it does from 
pronouncing the emphatic words themselves with a 
suitable inflexion and greater force. Let us endeavour 
to illustrate this by an example : 

Must we, in your person, crown the author of the public calami- 
ties, or must we destroy him ? JEschines against Demosthenes. 



ELOCUTION. 213 

Here, I say, in order to preserve to the two empha- 
tical words, crown and destroy, that force which the 
contrast demands, we must necessarily pronounce the 
intermediate member, the author of the public calami- 
ties, with the rising inflexion, like crown, but in a 
feebler, though higher tone of voice : this mode of 
pronunciation places the opposite parts in full view, 
which would be necessarily obscured, if the words 
author of the public calamities had the same portion of 
force and variety as the rest ; so that this member, 
which may not improperly be called the elliptical 
member, has exactly that inflexion and that feeble- 
ness which it would have, if it had been repeated, at 
the end of the sentence, in this manner : 

Must we, in your person, crown the author of the public calami- 
ties ? or must we destroy the author of the public calamities ? 

This will be farther ill ustrated by another example : 

It is not he who hath strengthened our fortifications, who hath 
digged our intrenchments, who hath disturbed the tombs of our an- 
cestors, that should demand the honours of a patriot minister, but 
he who hath procured some intrinsic services to the state. 

Here the intermediate member, that should demand 
the honours of a patriot minister, which agrees both 
with the positive and negative part of the sentence, 
must be pronounced in subordination to the word an- 
cestors ; that is, as this word has the emphasis with 
the rising inflexion, according to the general rule, the 
intermediate member must have the rising inflexion 
likewise, in a higher and feebler tone of voice, and 
without any peculiar force upon any of the words. 
Another example will render this rule still clearer : 

A good man will love himself too well to lose an estate by gaming, 
and his neighbour too well to win one. 

In this sentence, as in the two former, there are two 
principal constructive parts ; and between these parts 
there is a member which relates to both, and must be 
pronounced in subordination to both, else the force of 



214 ELEMENTS OF 

each will be lost. The member is, an estate by gam- 
ing ; the first principal constructive part of this sen- 
tence ends with the emphatic word lose ; and as its 
connexion with the latter constructive part necessarily 
requires that it should be pronounced with the rising 
inflexion, every word of the intermediate member 
which follows it must be pronounced with the rising 
inflexion likewise ; for if an emphasis or variety of 
inflexion be given to this member, it will infallibly 
deprive the correspondent antithetic words, himself, 
lose, neighbour, and win, of all their force and har- 
mony. Every word of this middle member, therefore, 
must be pronounced with the rising inflexion, in a 
somewhat higher tone than the word lose, and nearly 
approaching a monotone. On the contrary, if we 
were to place this member at the end of the sentence, 
in this manner, 

A good man will love himself too well to lose, and his neighbour 
too well to win, an estate by gaming — 

in this arrangement, in order to give force and variety 
to the correspondent emphatic words, the same in- 
flexions must take place as before ; that is, himself 
must have the falling, lose the rising, neighbour the 
rising, and wint\\Q falling inflexion : and to preserve 
this order, which can alone give the sentence its due 
precision, the last member, an estate by gaming, must 
be pronounced with the same inflexion as the word 
win, but in a lower tone of voice, and approaching to 
a monotone ; for if any force or variety is given to 
these words, it must necessarily be at the expense of 
those that are alone entitled to it. The bad effect, 
indeed, of pronouncing so many words at the end of a 
sentence in so low and feeble a tone, is apt to invite 
the ear to a different pronunciation at first ; but a mo- 
ment's reflection on the sense will induce us rather to 
dispense with a want of sound than of meaning. The 
first of these forms of arranging the words is indispu- 
tably the best; and writers would do well to make it 
a rule in composition, never to finish a sentence with 



ELOCUTION. 215 

a member that relates to each part of a preceding an- 
tithesis ; a neglect of this rule occasions many uncouth 
sentences even in our best authors. 

Mr. Addison, speaking of the power of the imagi- 
nation, says, 

It would be in vain to inquire whether the power of imagining 
things strongly proceeds from any greater perfection in the soul, or 
from any nicer texture in the brain of one man than of another. 

Spectator, No. 417. 

In this sentence, in order to present each part of 
the antithesis, soul and brain, clearly and precisely to 
the mind, it will be necessary to confine the emphatic 
force to these words alone ; and this can be done no 
other way than by laying the rising inflexion on soul, 
and the falling on brain, and pronouncing the last 
member, of one man than of another, with the same 
inflexion as brain, but in a lower and almost mono- 
tonous tone of voice ; this will necessarily give an un- 
couthness to the sound of the sentence, but is abso- 
lutely necessary to give the sense of it strongly and 
clearly. 

It is true, that by this mode of pronunciation the 
intermediate member is presented less clearly to the 
mind ; but when we consider that the sense of it is 
nearly anticipated by the comparative greater and 
nicer, we shall, with less reluctance, give it up to the 
principal emphatic words, soul and brain. 

It must not be dissembled, however, that if this 
intermediate member contains an emphatical word, 
or extends to any length, it will be necessary to con- 
sider it as an essential member of the sentence, and 
to pronounce it with emphasis and variety. Thus, 
if the sentence just quoted had been constructed in 
this manner : 

A good man will love himself too well to lose, and his neighbour 
too well to win, a very considerable sum by gaming. 

If, in reading this sentence, we were to place the 
emphasis with the rising inflexion on lose, and the 



21 6 ELEMENTS OF 

falling on win, and were to pronounce the rest of the 
sentence in a low monotonous tone of voice, in the 
same manner as when it contained but half the num- 
ber of syllables, we should be both obscure and dis- 
cordant ; but as the last member is lengthened to 
double the number of syllables, we find it may be so 
pronounced as to form an harmonious cadence. 
Another example will show the necessity of some- 
times breaking the general rule. Mr. Addison, speak- 
ing of the mutual polish and refinement which the in- 
tercourse between the sexes gives each other, con- 
cludes, 

In a word : a man would not only be an unhappy, but a rude un- 
finished creature, were he conversant with none but those of his own 
make. Spectator, No. 433. 

Here we find the intermediate member close the sen- 
tence, and is of such a length as to forbid the feeble 
monotone which is proper in other cases. It may 
not, however, be useless to observe, that when these 
intermediate members are so long, or of so much im- 
portance as to demand an emphatical pronunciation, 
the antithesis is in some measure obscured, and the 
sentence is deprived of spirit and vivacity. 

Before we conclude this article, we may observe, 
that the emphasis on opposite parts, which obscures 
the intermediate member, is calculated more for the 
purposes of force than harmony, and therefore ought 
to be observed with less rigour in verse than prose ; 
but where the former is familiar, argumentative, and 
strongly emphatical, it seems to require the obscure 
pronunciation of the intermediate member no less 
than the latter. 

EXAMPLE. 

Tis hard to say if greater want of skill 
Appear in writing or in judging ill : 
But of the two less dangerous is th' offence, 
To tire our patience than mislead our sense ; 
Some few in that, but numbers err in this, 
Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss j 
A fool might once himself alone expose, 
Now one in verse makes many more in prose. 

Popes Essay on Crit, 



ELOCUTION. 217 

In the first couplet of this passage, the word ill, which 
agrees to both the emphatic words writing and judg- 
ing, is pronounced feebly with the falling inflexion, 
after a strong pronunciation of the same inflexion on 
judging. In the next couplet, tire and patience, mis- 
lead, and sense, form a double emphasis, and come 
under the general rule ; but in the next couplet, the 
words wrong and amiss, being only different expres- 
sions for the same idea, are to be considered as an in- 
termediate member to the two emphatic words cen- 
sure and write, and pronounced feebly with the same 
inflexions as the words they follow*. 

From what has been said on this article, it appears 
of how much importance to reading and speaking is a 
judicious distribution of emphasis j and if what has 
been observed be true, it is evident how useful, and 
even necessary it must be, in teaching, to adopt some- 
thing like the method of marking them here pointed 
out. Methods of this kind are usually rejected, be- 
cause at first they are found rather to embarrass than 
assist the reader ; but this will be found to be the case 
in every art where improvement arises chiefly from 
habit : the principles of music would embarrass and 
puzzle a performer who had learned only from the 
ear, but nothing but a knowledge of these principles 

* In the first edition of this work I had not sufficiently considered 
the nature of unaccented words, and, therefore, gave them the very 
vague and indefinite appellations I met with in other authors, 
namely, obcsure and feeble ; a farther prosecution of the subject in 
the Rhetorical Grammar enabled me to ascertain the real force of 
these unaccented words, and to class them with the unaccented 
syllables of accented words. Thus a clear and definite idea was 
substituted for an indeterminate and obscure one : and I could, 
with confidence, tell my pupil that the sentence, 

" I do not, so much request, as demand your attention," 

was pronounced like three words ; I do not, like a word of three 
syllables, with the accent on the second ; so much request, like a 
word of four syllables, with the accent on the last : and as demand 
your attention, like a word of seven syllables, with the accent on the 
third. See p. 178. 



218 ELEMENTS OF 

could convey to them the difficult passages of a com- 
poser, and enable him to acquire them without the 
assistance of a teacher. Reading, indeed, may be 
considered as a species of music; the organs of 
utterance are the instruments, but the mind itself is 
the performer ; and, therefore, to pursue the simili- 
tude, though the mind may have a full conception 
of the sense of an author, and be able to judge nicely 
of the execution of others, yet if it has not imbibed 
the habit of performing on its own instrument, no 
expression will be produced. There is a certain 
mechanical dexterity to be acquired before the beau- 
tiful conceptions we possess can be communicated to 
others. This mechanism is an essential part of all 
the fine arts. Nothing but habitual practice will 
give the musician his neatness of execution, the 
painter his force of colouring, and even the poet the 
happiest choice and arrangement of his words and 
thoughts. How, then, can we expect that a lumi- 
nous and elegant expression in reading and speaking 
can be acquired without a similar attention to habi- 
tual practice? This is the golden key to every 
excellence, but can be purchased only by labour, 
unremitting labour, aud perseverance. 



ELOCUTION. 219 



Harmonic Inflexion. 

Besides that variety which necessarily arises from 
an attention to the foregoing rules, that is, from an- 
nexing certain inflexions to sentences of a particular 
import or structure, there is still another source of 
variety, in those parts of a sentence where the sense 
is not at all concerned, and where the variety is 
merely to please the ear. It is certain, that if the 
sense of a sentence be strongly conveyed, it will sel- 
dom be inharmoniously pronounced ; but it is as cer- 
tain, there are many members of sentences which 
may be differently pronounced without affecting the 
sense, but which cannot be differently pronounced 
without greatly affecting their variety and harmony. 
Thus in the following sentence : 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial-plate, 
but did not perceive it moving j and it appears that the grass has 
grown, though nobody ever saw it grow: so the advances we make 
in knowledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are only per- 
ceivable by the distance. 

In this sentence, provided we do not drop the voice 
before the end, the sense of the sentence is not at all 
concerned in any of the inflexions, except that on 
groiv in the middle, which must necessarily be the 
rising, and that on distance at the end, which must be 
the falling inflexion: if these inflexions are preserved 
on these words, the rest may take their chance, and 
the sense will be scarcely affected ; but the dullest 
ear must perceive an infinite advantage to the har- 
mony in placing the falling inflexion on grown in the 
first part of the sentence, and on knowledge in the 
last : and so natural is this pronunciation, that there 
are few readers so bad as not to place these inflexions 
on these words without any other guide than the ear. 

This part of pronunciation, therefore, though of 
little importance to the sense, is of the utmost import- 



220 ELEMENTS OF 

ance to the harmony of a sentence. Every writer on 
the subject has left it entirely to the ear; and, indeed, 
so nice are the principles on which harmony and va- 
riety in pronunciation depend, that it is no wonder 
any analysis of it has been shifted off, and classed 
among those things for which it is utterly impossible 
to give rules. But, as we have often observed, though 
the varieties of voice, in other respects, are almost 
infinite, all these varieties are still reducible to two 
radical and essential differences, the upward and 
downward slide or inflexion ; and therefore, though 
the high and low, the loud and soft, the quick and 
slow, the forcible and feeble, admit of almost infinite 
degrees, every one of these differences and degrees 
must either adopt the rising or falling inflexion of 
voice ; and these inflexions being more essential to 
the sense and harmony than any, or all the other dif- 
ferences, we have, in the distinction of the voice into 
the rising and falling inflexion, a key to part of the 
harmony and variety so much admired, and, it may be 
added, a very essential part. If, therefore, no rules 
could be given to the application of these inflexions 
to the purposes of harmony and variety, the practica- 
bility of marking upon paper those which are actually 
made use of by good readers and speakers, would be 
of the utmost importance to elocution ; but in this, as 
well as in other cases, an attempt will be made to 
mark out some rules, which, it is hoped, will not be 
entirely useless. 



ELOCUTION. %%l 



Preliminary Observations. 



When similar members of sentences do not run into 
such a series, as brings them into the enumerative 
form ; the voice, both to relieve the ear, and impress 
the sense, falls naturally into a succession of in- 
flexions, which is something similar to that used in 
the series, and at once gives force and variety : these 
inflexions sometimes take place at the beginning of 
a sentence, where the members are similar ; but most 
commonly near the end, when the sentence is con- 
cluding with several similar members, which, without 
this inflexion on some particular words, would disgust 
the ear by a succession of similar sounds. This in- 
flexion, from the obvious use of it, we may call the 
Harmonic Inflexion. 

Difficult, and, perhaps, impossible as it is to de- 
scribe sounds upon paper to those who are wholly 
unacquainted with them, the task is not quite so 
arduous when we address those who have a general 
: dea of what we attempt to convey. If the nature of 
the rising and falling inflexions has been sufficiently 
"conceived, the use of them in this particular will be 
easily pointed out. The harmonic inflexion then is, 
using the rising and the falling inflexion of the voice 
upon successive words, principally to please the ear, 
and break a continued chain of similar pauses : for 
the rising inflexion of the voice has nothing emphati- 
cal in it, nor the falling any thing concluding. As 
this latter inflexion, and the small pause that accom- 
panies it, often takes place on words that are imme- 
diately connected in sense with what follows, it seems 
barely a resting place for the voice and ear, and such 
an enforcing of the voice as naturally arises from a 
more deliberate pronunciation of the words. That 



222 ELEMENTS OF 

the voice may be in the falling inflexion without 
marking a conclusion in the sense, and even while it 
excites expectation of something to follow, is evident 
from the pronunciation of the first member of a series; 
but this falling inflexion of the voice is essentially dif- 
ferent from that which we commonly use when we 
conclude a sentence ; for, in the former case, as has 
been already observed, the voice is palpably raised 
higher than on the preceding words, though ending 
with the falling inflexion *; in the latter it falls gra- 
dually lower on several of the preceding words, and 
may properly be said to drop. An example will con- 
tribute greatly to the comprehending of this marking 
inflexion, so necessary to the variety and harmony 
of a sentence. 

We may observe, that any single circumstance of what we have 
formerly seen, often raises up a whole scene of imagery, and awakens 
numberless ideas that before slept in the imagination j such a par- 
ticular smell or colour is able to fill the mind on a sudden with a 
picture of the fields or gardens where we first met with it j and to 
bring up into view, all the variety of images that once attended it. 

Spectator, No. 417. 

We may here observe, that the former part of this 
passage has a succession of similar pauses till it comes 
to the semicolon (which, from the complete sense it 
forms, might as well have been marked by a colon), 
and that the succeeding part of the sentence runs 
exactly into the same succession of similar pauses : 
which, if pronounced exactly alike, would offend the 
ear by a monotony. A good reader, therefore, soli- 
citous to avoid a sameness of sound, throws his voice 
into the rising inflexion upon bring, and into the 
falling upon view, by which means a variety is intro- 
duced, and the period ends more harmoniously from 
the preparation made for it by the harmonic in- 
flexion. 

* See Part I. pp. 74, 133. 



ELOCUTION. 223 

Another instance where this inflexion may be re- 
peated successively, is perhaps better calculated to 
convey an idea of it. 

We may learn from this observation which we have made on the 
mind of man, to take particular care, when we have once settled in 
a regular course of life, how we too frequently indulge ourselves in 
any the most innocent diversions and entertainments ; since the 
mind may insensibly fall off from the relish of virtuous actions, and 
by degrees exchange th&t pleasure, which it takes in the performance 
of its duty, for the delights of a much more inferior and unprofitable 
nature. Spectator No. 447 . 

In this example, we have the same succession of simi- 
lar pauses as in the last ; and though the voice may 
very properly fix itself in the falling inflexion on the 
words entertainments, and by that means occasion 
some variety, yet the subsequent part of the period 
proceeds upon similar pauses as well as the former ; 
and, therefore, the harmonic inflexion introduced 
upon the words degrees and exchange, and upon that 
and pleasure, that is, the rising inflexion upon de- 
grees and that, and the falling inflexion upon ex- 
change and pleasure ; by this means, I say, the mo- 
notony will be broken, the thought enforced, and the 
period rendered much more musical. 

One example more, where this inflexion may be 
oftener repeated, will still better enable us to show 
the real nature and use of it. 



I must confess I think it below reasonable creatures to be altoge- 
ther conversant in such diversions as are merely innocent, and have 
nothing else to recommend them but that there is no hurt in them. 
Whether any kind of gaming has even this much to say for itself, I 
shall not determine ; but I think it very wonderful to see persons of 
the best sense passing away a ddzen hours together in shuffling and 
dividing a pack of cards, with no other conversation but what is made 
tip of a few game phrases, and no other ideas, but those of black and 
red spots ranged together in different figures. Spectator, No. 93. 

The necessity of introducing the harmonic inflexion 
in the latter part of this sentence will better appear, 



224< ELEMENTS OF 

by first reading it in the common manner, and after- 
wards with the inflexion we have been describing ; 
this will show the difficulty of avoiding a monotony 
without adopting this inflexion, and the variety and 
force it gives to the language and sentiment when it 
is adopted. The words best and sense ; passing and 
away ; dozen and together ; shuffling and dividing ; 
other and conversation ; what and made up ; these 
words, I say, will be very apt to drag, and produce a 
sameness of sound if pronounced in the common way ; 
but if the rising inflexion is used on the first, and the 
falling on the last of every pair, the monotony will be 
prevented, and a succession of sounds introduced, 
very descriptive of the repetition conveyed by the 
words. 

But the great object of the harmonic inflexion is 
forming the cadence ; here it is that harmony and 
variety are more peculiarly necessary, as the ear is 
more particularly affected by the close of a subject, or 
any branch of a subject, than by any other part of 
the composition. We have had frequent occasion to 
observe, that though a series of sentences may all re- 
quire to be pronounced with the falling inflexion ; 
yet if they all belong to one subject, or one branch of 
a subject, usually called a paragraph, that the last of 
them only demands that depression of voice which 
marks a conclusion : to which observation we may 
add this general rule. 

Rule I. When a series of similar sentences, or 
members of sentences, form a branch of a subject or 
paragraph ; the last sentence or member must fall 
gradually into a lower tone, and adopt the harmonic 
inflexion, on such words as form the most agreeable 
cadence. 



EXAMPLES. 

One of the most eminent mathematicians of the age has assured 
me, that the greatest pleasure he took in reading Virgil was in 



ELOCUTION. 2&5 

examining /Eneas's voyage by the map ; as I question not but many 
a modern compiler of history would be delighted with little more in 
that dhine author than the bare matters of fact. 

Spectator, No. 109. 



Here we find placing the rising inflexion upon the 
word little, and the falling upon more; and the falling 
upon divine, and the rising upon author, gives both a 
distinctness and harmony to the cadence. 



Gratian very often recommends the fine taste as the utmost per- 
fection of an accomplished man. As this word arises very often in 
conversation, I shall endeavour to give some account of it ; and to 
lay down rules how we may know whether we are possessed of it, 
and hdw we may acquire that fine taste of writing which is so much 
talked of among the polite world. Spectator, No. 109. 



Placing the rising inflexion upon how, and the fall- 
ing upon acquire; the falling inflexion upon fine, 
and the rising upon writing, prevents a sameness 
which would otherwise arise from the similitude of 
the three members, and gives an agreeable close to 
the sentence. 



Since I have mentioned this unaccountable zeal which appears in 
atheists and infidels, J must farther observe, that they are likewise in 
a most particular manner possessed with the spirit of bigotry. They 
are wadded to opinions full of contradiction and impossibility, and 
at the same time look upon the smallest difficulty in an article of 
faith as a sufficient reason for rejecting it. Spectator, No. 185. 



As the rising inflexion on the word wedded, and 
the falling on the word opinions, the falling on contra- 
diction, and the rising on impossibility, prevents a 
sameness in the first member of the last sentence, 
arising from its similitude to the closing member of 
the first ; so the rising inflexion upon the words 
same and smallest, and the falling upon time and diffi- 
culty and the falling upon article, and the rising 

Q 



226 ELEMENTS OF 

upon faith ; this arrangement of inflexions, I say, 
on the latter part of the sentence, gives a force, har- 
mony, and variety, to the cadence. 

We may be sure the metaphorical word taste would not have been 
so general in all tongues, had there not been a very great conformity 
between that mental taste, which is the subject of this paper, and 
that sensitive taste which gives us a relish of every different flavour 
that affects the palate. Accordingly we find, there are as many de- 
grees of refinement in the intellectual faculty, as in the sense which 
is marked out by this common denomination. Spectator, No. 409. 

If we do but place the rising inflexion on accord- 
ingly, and the falling on find, the rising on many, 
and the falling on refinement, in the last sentence, 
we shall perceive a great variety, as well as harmony, 
added to the whole passage. 



Harmony of Prose. 

The foregoing observations on the harmony of the 
cadence, have, undoubtedly, suggested to the reader 
that great object of ancient and modern composition, 
the harmony of prose : this is a subject so intimately 
connected with harmonious pronunciation, that it 
seems necessary to investigate the principles of that 
composition which is generally esteemed harmonious, 
in order, if possible, to throw some light upon the 
most accurate mode of delivering it. 

The ancients thought harmonious prose to be only 
a looser kind of numbers, and resolved many passages 
of their most celebrated orations into such feet as 
composed verse. In modern languages, where accent 
seems to stand for the quantity of the ancients, we 
find harmonious prose resolvable into an arrangement 
of accented syllables, somewhat similar to that of 



ELOCUTION. 227 

versification. The return of the accented syllable 
at certain intervals, seems the common definition of 
both. 

In verse we find these intervals nearly equal ; and 
it is this equality which forms the measure. Thus 
in the following couplet : 

Short is the date, alas ! of modern rhymes 5 

And 'tis but just to let them live betimes. Pope. 

An undisciplined reader, in pronouncing this sen- 
tence, would be apt, from the greater smoothness of 
the line, to lay the accent, or metrical emphasis, as 
it may be called, on the word is in the first line ; but 
as this would bring forward a word which, from its 
nature, is always sufficiently understood, a good 
reader will place the accent on short and date, and 
sink the words is the into a comparative obscurity ; 
and as this interval of two syllables happens at the 
beginning of a line, it is so far from having a bad 
effect on the ear, that it frequently relieves it from 
the too great sameness to which rhyming verse is 
always liable. 

But if this inequality of interval is sometimes for 
the sake of variety necessary in verse, it is not to be 
wondered, that for a similar reason, we avoid as much 
as possible too great a regularity of interval between 
the accented syllables in prose. Loose and negligent, 
however, as prose may appear, it is not entirely des- 
titute of measure : for it may be with confidence 
asserted, that, wherever a style is remarkably smooth 
and flowing, it is owing in some measure to a regular 
return of accented syllables. And though a strength 
and seventy of style has in it something more excel- 
lent than the soft and flowing, yet the latter holds 
certainly a distinguished rank in composition. The 
music of language never displeases us, but when sense 
is sacrificed to sound ; when both are compatible, 
we should deprive a thought of half its beauty, not to 



228 ELEMENTS OF 

4 

give it all the harmony of which language is suscepti- 
ble. As all subjects are not masculine, sublime, and 
strong ; all subjects do not require, and, indeed, are 
not susceptible of a strength and severity of style. 
Those, therefore, which are beautiful, didactic, and 
persuasive, demand a smoothness, and elegance of 
language ; which is not only agreeable, as it is suited 
to the objects it conveys, but, like fine colours or 
sounds, is in some measure pleasing for its own sake. 
Accordingly, we find, that, though we cannot so easily 
trace that accentual rhythmus which forms the har- 
mony of the beginning and middle of a sentence, 
yet the latter part, or what is commonly called the 
cadence, consists (when harmoniously constructed) 
of such an arrangement of accented words as ap- 
proaches nearly to verse. Every ear wili immediately 
find a ruggedness and want of harmony in the con- 
clusion of the following sentence : 



We are always complaining our days are few, and acting as though 
there would be no end of them. Addison. 



The reason of this harshness seems to be, that vast 
chasms of unaccented words that extends from the 
word acting to the word end. The ear, indeed, sen- 
sible of the want of accent, lays a little stress upon 
though ; but this does not quite remedy the evil : still 
there are four words unaccented, and the sentence 
remains harsh; but if we alter its structure, by 
placing a word that admits of an accent in the middle 
of these four words, we shall find harmony succeed 
to harshness and inequality. 



We are always complaining our days are few, and acting as though 
there would never be an end of them. 



The difference, therefore, can arise from nothing 
but an equal and unmetrical arrangement of accent 



ELOCUTION. 229 

in the former sentence, and a greater approach to 
equal and metrical arrangement of accent in the 
latter. 

As a farther corroboration of the truth of this 
opinion, let us take a sentence remarkable for its 
harmony, and try whether it arises from the fore- 
going principles. 

We hear at this distance but a faint echo of that thunder in De- 
mosthenes, which shook the throne of Macedon to its foundations j 
and are sometimes at a loss for that conviction in the arguments of 
Cicero, which balanced in the midst of convulsions the tottering 
republic of Home. 

In the latter part of this sentence, we find the 
accented syllables at exactly equal intervals from the 
word sometimes to the word midst ; that is, there are 
three unaccented syllables between every accented 
syllable : and from the word midst to the word Rome, 
there is an exact equality of intervals ; that is, two 
unaccented syllables, or, which is perfectly equiva- 
lent, syllables pronounced in the time of two, to one 
accented. 

Now, if we change a few of the words of this sen- 
tence to others of different length and accent, we 
shall find the harmony of the sentence considerably 
diminished, though the sense may be inviolably pre- 
served. 

We hear at this distance but a faint echo of that thunder in De- 
mosthenes which shook the throne of Macedon to its foundations $ 
and are sometimes at a loss for that force in the proofs of Cicero, 
which balanced in the midst of anarchy the tottering state of Rome. 

That full flow of prosaic harmony, so perceptible 
in the former sentence, is greatly diminished in this; 
and the reason seems plainly pointed out : for as the 
harmony of verse is owing solely to an equal and 
regular return of accent, the harmony of prose must 
arise from the same source ; that is, as verse owes its 
harmony entirely to a regular return of accent, prose 



230 ELEMENTS OF 

can never be harmonious by a total want of it. The 
sole difference between them seems to lie in the con- 
stant, regular, and artificial arrangement of accent in 
the one, and the unstudied, various, and even oppo- 
site arrangement in the other. Verse, with some 
few exceptions, proceeds in a regular alternation of 
accent from one end of the poem to the other ; har- 
monious prose, on the contrary, in some members, 
adopts one species of arrangement, and in some 
another ; but always so as to avoid such clusters of 
accents in one place, and such a total absence of them 
in another, as necessarily occasions a ruggedness and 
difficulty of pronunciation. 

At first sight, perhaps, we should be led to suppose, 
that the intervals between the accents ought rather 
to diminish than increase as they approach the end 
of a sentence ; and yet, if* we consult the ear, we 
shall find that intervals of two unaccented syllables 
sound better even in the closing member of a sen- 
tence, than intervals of one unaccented syllable only. 
Let us take the following sentence as an example of 
this : 



Demetrius compares prosperity to the indulgence of a fond mother 
to a child, which often proves his ruin; but the affection of the 
Divine Being to that of a wise father, who would have his sons ex- 
ercised in labour, disappointment, and pain, that they may gather 
strength and fortitude. 



Now, if, instead of the word strength, we substitute 
experience, though the sense may be weakened, the 
sound will, perhaps, be improved ; and if the ears of 
others should agree with mine in this particular, 
it may be laid down as a rule, that other circum- 
stances being equal, the last members of sentences 
ought rather to end in the dactylic than in the iambic 
measure. In this appellation of the measures of prose, 
I adopt the terms generally made use of, and parti- 
cularly by Mason, in his Essay on Prosaic Numbers, 



ELOCUTION. 231 

This gentleman deserves much praise for his attempt 
to investigate the causes of prosaic harmony, but 
appears to me to have an idea of English metre so 
blended with that of the Latin and Greek, as to throw 
error and confusion over his whole performance. For 
what can we make of his placing two long quantities 
over the two syllables of the words sentence and 
spondee ? Each of these words can have but one 
accent ; and it is accent, or emphasis, and these 
only, and not any length or openness of the vowels, 
that forms English metre, or that rythmus which is 
analogous to it in prose. 



Harmony of Prosaic Inflexions. 

Hitherto I have only considered poetic and prosaic 
harmony as arising from an harmonious and rhyth- 
mical arrangement of accent ; and it is with some 
diffidence I venture upon a farther .explication of this 
subject upon principles which have never yet been 
thought of; but I presume it will be found, upon 
inquiry, that the various and harmonious arrange- 
ment of the rising and falling inflexions of the voice, 
is no less the cause of harmony, both in verse and 
prose, than the metrical arrangement of accent and 
emphasis. 

The melody both of prose and verse seems to con- 
sist as much in such an arrangement of emphatic 
inflexion, as suits the sense, and is agreeable to the 
ear, as it does in a rhythmical disposition of accented 
and emphatic syllables. To illustrate this observation, 
let us take an harmonious couplet in Pope's Prologue 
to Cato : 

A brave man struggling in the storms of fate, 
And greatly falling with a falling state. 



23% ELEMENTS OF 

The first line of this couplet ends with the rising 
inflexion, to prevent the want of harmony there would 
be in ending too successive lines with the same in- 
flexion ; a sameness for which nothing but emphasis 
will ever apologise. As this line ends with the rising 
inflexion, the last word may not improperly be called 
the rudder, which directs the inflexions on the pre- 
ceding words ; for in order to prevent an exact 
return of the same order of inflexion, it is not suffi- 
cient that the different inflexions succeed each other 
alternately ; this would be like the successive sounds 
of the letters A, B ; A, B. To prevent a return of 
sounds so little various, we find the ear generally 
adopt a succession of inflexion, which interposes two 
similar inflexions between two similar inflexions j 
and this produces a variety similar to the series, 

A, B, B, A ; or, B, A, A, B. 

The first line, therefore, of this verse, necessarily 
ending with the rising inflexion on the word fate, in 
order to make the other words as various and harmo- 
nious as possible, the falling inflexion is placed on 
storms, the same inflexion on struggling, and the 
rising inflexion on brave ; and this, in the first line, 
forms the arrangement, rising, falling, falling, rising; 
or 

A, B, B, A. 



The next line ending the sentence, necessarily 
adopts the falling inflexion on the last word state, 
and this directs the rising inflexion to be placed on 
greatly, which produces this order, falling, rising, 
rising, falling ; or B, A, A, B. This order of plac- 
ing the inflexions is not invariably adopted, because 
emphasis sets aside every other rule, and makes har- 
mony subservient to sense ; but it may be asserted, 



ELOCUTIOxN. 233 

that this order of arranging the inflexions is so gener- 
ally adopted by the ear, that when emphasis does 
not forbid, this is the arrangement into which the 
voice naturally slides. It may likewise be observed, 
that where emphasis coincides with this arrangement, 
the verse is always the most harmonious, and the 
sense in its most poetical dress. Nay, we shall find 
harmonious prose, where emphasis does not interrupt 
the natural current of inflexion, glide insensibly into 
this rhythmical arrangement of inflexion. Let us 
take an example : 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 

Agreeably to the order we have just taken notice of, 
we find this sentence adopt the falling inflexion on 
exercise, the rising on temperance and strengthen, and 
the falling on constitution ; but if we add another 
member to this sentence, so connected with this as to 
require the rising inflexion on constitution, we shall 
find that the arrangement of inflexion is changed, 
but the same order preserved. 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution and sweeten 
the enjdyments of life. 

Here, I say, contrary to the former arrangement, we 
find the rising inflexion on exercise, the falling on 
temperance and strengthen, and the rising on constitu- 
tion ; because here the sense remains suspended and 
unfinished. See Plate I. N° IV. pp. 66, 67. A final 
member succeeds, consisting of three accented words; 
the two last of which must always be pronounced with 
different inflexions ; that is, the penultimate with the 
rising, and the ultimate with the falling inflexion ; 
but the antepenultimate word sweeten, may adopt 
either the rising or falling inflexion, as either will 
diversify it sufficiently from the preceding and suc- 
ceeding inflexions ; but the falling inflexion on this 
word seems to be preferable, as the three words 
sweeten, enjoyment, and life, form one distinct por- 



234 ELEMENTS OF 

tion ; and this portion can be no way so variously 
pronounced as by the falling inflexion on sweeten, the 
rising on enjoyments, and the falling on life. 

But whatever may be the order of arrangement in 
the commencement and middle of a sentence, it is 
certain, that if we mean to form an harmonious 
cadence, one of these two arrangements of inflexion 
ought to take place at the end of a sentence : that is, 
if the last member consist of four accented words, 
the same inflexions ought to take place at the end of 
a sentence, as we find generally obtain in the last line 
of a couplet in poetry ; or if the last member consist 
of three accented words, such inflexions ought to be 
adopted as will make a series of three inflexions most 
various, which is, by giving the last word the falling, 
the penultimate the rising, and the antepenultimate 
either the rising or falling inflexion. See Simple 
Series, Rule IV. p. 100. 

An instance of the first arrangement is the follow- 
ing sentence : 

The immortality of the soul is the basis of morality, and the 
source of all the pleasing hopes and secret joys, that can arise in the 
heart of a reasonable creature. Sped. No. 111. 

In the last member but one of this sentence, the 
words pleasing and joys have the rising inflexion, and 
hopes and secret the falling : and in the last member, 
the words arise and creature have the falling, and 
heart and reasonable the rising inflexion, which is 
exactly the order of inflexion in the last couplet of 
the trajedy of Cato : 

Produces fraud and cruelty and strife, 
And robs the guilty world of Cato's life ; 

where produces and strife have the rising inflexion, 
and fraud and cruelty the falling ; and guilty and life, 
the falling, and world and Cato the rising inflexion. 



ELOCUTION. 235 

An istance of the other arrangement we find in 
this sentence : 

Cicero concludes his celebrated books de Oratore, with some pre- 
cepts for pronunciation and action ; without which part he affirms, 
that the best orator in the world can never succeed, and an indif- 
ferent one, who is master of this, shall gain much greater applause. 

In order to pronounce this sentence with an harmo- 
nious cadence, the word this must have the rising in- 
flexion, as at the end of the first line of a couplet, and 
the three last words, much greater applause, which 
form the last member, must be pronounced very dis- 
tinctly with the falling inflexion on the last, the rising 
inflexion on greater, and the falling on much. 

The rule, therefore, that arises from these observa- 
tions i&, that when the last pause necessarily leaves 
the last member of a sentence with four accented 
words, as in the first example, they are pronounced 
with the inflexions in the order falling, rising, rising, 
falling; and when the pause leaves three accented 
words in the last member, they are pronounced as in 
the last example ; that is, either in the order, falling, 
rising, falling ; or rising, rising, falling. 

As a corroboration of these principles, we may ob- 
serve that where the pause necessarily leaves but two 
accented words in the last member, and that empha- 
sis forbids the preceding member to be so pronounced 
as to form the order of inflexions we have prescribed ; 
when this is the case, I say, we shall find the period 
end inharmoniously. Let us take an example : 



If they do not acquiesce in his judgment, which I think never hap- 
pened above once or twice at most, they appeal to me. Spectator. 



Here the sense requires, that the emphasis with the 
falling inflexion should be placed on the word most ; 
after which must be a pause ; and as the final mem- 
ber consists only of two accented words, appeal and 



236 ELEMENTS OF 

me, no tolerable cadence can be formed;. for these 
words, having necessarily the rising and falling inflex- 
ion, are but a repetition of the same inflexions, in the 
same order as on the words twice and most, which 
forms as monotonous a conclusion as the series, 

A, B ; A, B. 

It seldom happens, however, that the sentence is so 
constructed as to prevent the ear from falling into one 
or other of the two before mentioned arrangements 
of inflexion. For so agreeable to the ear is an harmo- 
nious cadence, that for the sake of forming one, allow- 
ances will be made for giving an emphatic accent 
even to words not entitled to it from their sense. Let 
us suppose the following sentence forming the con- 
clusion of a discourse : 

So that from what has been said, we may certainly conclude, that 
as virtue is not always rewarded in the present life, it will be sure to 
meet with the most ample and satisfactory reward in the life to come. 

If this sentence is properly pronounced, there must 
be a considerable pause at the word reward, in order 
to pronounce the last member with a distinct and har- 
monious fall ; but if we pause here, we shall find it 
impossible to pronounce the last member harmoni- 
ously without laying a stress on the word in ; and 
though this word has no title either to accent or em- 
phasis from the sense it conveys, yet the necessity of 
concluding a discourse, or an}' capital branch of a 
discourse, with an harmonious fall, will sufficiently 
authorise a considerable stress and distinct inflexion 
on that insignificant word. 

A good ear, therefore, will sometimes lay a stress on 
certain words, and sometimes omit it, for the sake of 
an harmonious cadence. Thus in Sterne's Sermon 
on the House of Mourning and the House of Feast- 
ing, we meet with this passage : 



ELOCUTION. 237 

From reflections of this serious cast, how insensibly do the 
thoughts carry us farther ! and from considering what we are, what 
kind of world we live in, and what evils befall us in it, how naturally 
do they set us to look forwards at what possibly we shall be ! for 
what kind of world we are intended — what evils may befall us there 
— and what provision we may make against them here, whilst we 
have time and opportunity. 

In this passage we find the last member, whilst we 
have time and opportunity, necessarily requires that 
the word whilst should be pronounced with the de- 
gree of force due to an accented word, or the cadence 
would be faulty. But if this last member were con- 
structed in this manner ; whilst we have time and op- 
portrnity afforded us ; in this case, I say, we need 
give no force to the word whilst, as there are three 
accented words, time, opportunity, and ajfforded 9 
which will be sufficient to form the cadence with- 
out it. 

These observations necessarily suggest the import- 
ance of such a choice and arrangement of words as 
fall in with the most harmonious pronunciation. 
Pronunciation and composition mutually throw light 
on each other ; they are counterparts of one great 
operation of the human mind, namely, that of con- 
veying the ideas and feelings of one man to another 
with force, precision, and harmony. It will not be 
very surprising, therefore, if the foregoing observa- 
tions on pronunciation should have hinted a few rules 
on the harmony of composition. We have seen, that 
the harmony of every sentence depends more parti- 
cularly on the construction of the latter part,* as 
this forms what is commonly called the cadence. 
This part of the sentence, therefore, should be more 
particularly attended to, as it is that which crowns 
the whole, and makes the most lasting impression on 
the ear. 

* Quint. L. IX. Cap. iv. 



238 



ELEMENTS OF 



Rules for reading Verse. 

Whatever difficulties we may find in reading prose, 
they are greatly increased when the composition is 
in verse ; and more particularly if the verse be rhyme. 
The regularity of the feet, and the sameness of sound 
in rhyming verse, strongly solicits the voice to a 
sameness of tone ; and tone, unless directed by a 
judicious ear, is apt to degenerate into a song, and a 
song, of all others, the most disgusting to a person of 
just taste. If, therefore, there are few who read prose 
with propriety, there are still fewer who succeed in 
verse ; they either want that equable and harmonious 
flow of sound which distinguishes it from loose, un- 
measured composition, or they have not a sufficient 
delicacy of ear to keep the harmonious smoothness 
of verse from sliding into a whining cant ; nay, so 
agreeable is this cant to many readers, that a simple 
and natural delivery of verse seems tame and insipid, 
and much too familiar for the dignity of the lan- 
guage. So pernicious are bad habits in every exer- 
cise of the faculties, that they not only lead us to 
false objects of beauty and propriety, but at last de- 
prive us of the very power of perceiving the mistake. 
For those, therefore, whose ears are not just, and who 
are totally deficient in a true taste for the music of 
poetry, the best method of avoiding this impropriety 
is to read verse exactly as if it were prose ; for though 
this may be said to be an error, it is certainly an error 
on the safer side. 

To say, however, as some do, that the pronuncia- 
tion of verse is entirely destitute of song, and that it 
is no more than a just pronunciation of prose, is as 
distant from truth, as the whining cant we have been 
speaking of, is from true poetic harmony. Poetry 



ELOCUTION. £39 

without song is a body without a soul. The tune of 
this song is, indeed, difficult to hit > but when once it 
is hit, it is sure to give the most exquisite pleasure. 
It excites in the hearer the most eager desire of imi- 
tation ; and if this desire be not accompanied by a 
just taste or good instruction, it generally substitutes 
the turn ti, turn ti, as it is called, for simple, elegant, 
poetic harmony. 

It must, however, be confessed, that elegant readers 
of verse often verge so nearly on what is called sing 
song, without falling into it, that it is no wonder those 
who attempt to imitate them, slide into that blemish 
which borders so nearly on a beauty. And, indeed, 
as an ingenious author observes, * " there is such an 
"affinity between poetry and music, that they were 
"in the earlier ages never separated; and though 
" modern refinement has, in a great measure, de- 
* c stroyed this union, yet, it is with some degree of 
" difficulty, in rehearsing these divine compositions, 
" that we forget the singing of the Muse." 

The truth is, the pronunciation of verse is a species 
of elocution very distinct fron the pronunciation of 
prose: both of them have nature for their basis ; but 
one is common, familiar, and practical nature; the 
other beautiful, elevated, and ideal nature ; the latter 
as different from the former as the elegant step of a 
minuet is from the common motions in walking. Ac- 
cordingly, we find, there are many who can read 
prose well, who are entirely at a loss for the pronun- 
ciation of verse : for these, then, we will endeavour to 
lay down a few rules, which may serve to facilitate 
the acquiring of so desirable an accomplishment. 

But first it may be observed, that though all the 
passions may be in a poetical dress, and that the 
movement of the verse may be suited to all their dif- 
ferent characters ; yet as verse is a species of music, 

* Philosophical Essay on the Delivery of written Language. 



240 ELEMENTS OF 

none of the passions appear to such advantage in 
poetry as the benevolent ones ; for as melody is a 
thing pleasing in itself, it must naturally unite with 
those passions which are productive of pleasing sen- 
sations ; in like manner as graceful action accords 
w 7 ith a generous sentiment, or as a beautiful counte- 
nance gives advantage to an amiable idea. Thus the 
noble and generous passions are the constant topics 
of ancient and modern poems ; and of these passions, 
the pathetic seems the favourite and most endearing 
theme. Those readers, therefore, who cannot assume 
a plaintive tone of voice, w r ill never succeed in read- 
ing poetry ; and those who have this power, will read 
verse very agreeably, though almost every other re- 
quisite for delivery be wanting. 

It has been observed upon a former occasion, that 
the different inflexions of the voice upon particular 
words are not so perceptible in verse as prose ; and 
that in the former, the voice sometimes- entirely sinks 
the inflexion, and slides into a monotone. This pro- 
pensity of the voice in reading verse, shows how nearly 
poetry approaches to music ; as those notes properly 
called musical, are really so many monotones, or notes 
without slides, in different degrees of the musical 
scale, and sometimes in the same degree. This ap- 
proach to a monotone, especially in plaintive poetry, 
makes it often difficult, and sometimes impossible to 
distinguish whether the slides that accompany the 
pauses and emphasis of verse are rising or falling: and 
at those pauses where we can easily distinguish the 
inflexions, we sometimes find them different from such 
as we should adopt in reading the passage if it were 
prose ; that is, we often find the rising inflexion at a 
pause in verse, where, if it were prose, we should use 
the falling: an instance is given of this at the end of 
the series (p. 115) ; and to this many more might be 
added. For as pronunciation has for its object the 
strongest and clearest sense, united with the most 



ELOCUTION. 241 

agreeable sound ; if, in order to be harmonious, we 
must necessarily enfeeble or obscure the sense ; or if, 
in order to be strong and clear, we find it necessary 
to be harsh, the composition is certainly faulty ; and 
all a reader can do in this case is, to make such a 
compromise between sense and sound as will produce, 
upon the whole, the best effect. It has been before 
observed, that sometimes in prose, when the meaning 
is sufficiently obvious, we may abate an enforcement 
of sense for the sake of the sound ; and in poetry, 
the sacrifice to sound is much more necessary ; that 
is, if the sense be sufficiently clear ; for nothing can 
offend against every species of pronunciation so much 
as confusion or obscurity. 

But though an elegant and harmonious pronun- 
ciation of verse will sometimes oblige us to adopt dif- 
ferent inflexions from those we should use in prosaic 
pronunciation, it may still be laid down as a good 
general rule, that verse requires the same inflexions 
as prose, though less strongly marked, and more ap- 
proaching to monotones. If, therefore, we are at a 
loss for the true inflexion of voice on any word in 
poetry, let us reduce it to earnest conversation, and 
pronounce it in the most familiar and prosaic manner ; 
and we shall for the most part fall into those very in- 
flexions we ought to adopt in repeating verse : nay, 
it is the preservation of these prosaic inflexions that 
makes the poetic pronunciation natural ; and the 
whining cant which is adopted by many affected 
readers of poetry, owes, in a great measure its origin 
to a neglect of this rule. Thus in the following 
couplet : 

Short is the date in which ill acts prevail, 

But honesty's a rock will never fail. Steele. 

If we pronounce the last word fail with the rising 
inflexion, sliding upwards a little higher than usual, 
we shall infallibly draw the couple into the whining 



242 ELEMENTS OF 

one we are here speaking of ; # but if we pronounce 
every part of the same sentence exactly in the same 
manner, except the last word, and give this the falling 
inflexion, we shall find a natural tone preserved, and 
the whining cant entirely vanished. 

This observation naturally leads to a rule which 
may justly be looked on as the fundamental principle 
of all poetic pronunciation ; which is, that wherever 
a sentence, or member of a sentence, would necessarily 
require the falling inflexion in prose, it ought always to 
have the same inflexion in poetry ; for though, if we 
were to read verse prosaically, we should often place 
the falling inflexion where the style of verse would re- 
quire the rising, yet in those parts, where a portion of 
perfect sense or the conclusion of a sentence, necessarily 
requires the falling inflexion, the same inflexion must 
be adopted both in verse and prose. 

EXAMPLE. 

Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit 
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste 
Brought death into the world, and all our woe 
With loss of Eden, till one greater man 
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat ; 
Sing heav'nly muse, that on the secret top 
Of Oreb, or of Sinai didst inspire 
That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed, 
In the beginning, how the heav'ns and earth 
Rose out of chaos. Milton s Par ad. Lost, B.i.v.l. 

Though we were to read this passage quite prosaic- 
ally, it would not admit of the falling inflexion on 
any of its pauses till the end, and here the voice ought 
to assume the falling inflexion, and be in a lower tone 
than any of the other pauses : but in the following 
example : 

High on a throne of royal state, which far 
Outshone the wealth of Ormus or of Inde, 



* Conversing with Dr. Johnson upon this subject, he repeated 
this couplet to me in the manner here described ; which he said was 
the manner in which Savage always used to pronounce verse. 



ELOCUTION. 243 

Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand 
Show'rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, 
Satan exalted sat. Ibid. B. ii. v. 1. 

In reading this passage prosaically, we might place 
the falling inflexion on Inde ; but the poetical pro- 
nunciation of this passage would necessarily require 
a suspension of voice with the rising inflexion on that 
word. It may be observed, indeed, that it is in the 
frequent use of the rising inflexion, where prose would 
adopt the falling, that the song of poetry consists : 
familiar, strong, argumentative subjects naturally 
enforce the language with the falling inflexion, as this 
is naturally expressive of activity, force, and precision; 
but grand, beautiful, and plaintive subjects slide na- 
turally into the rising inflexion, as this is expressive 
of awe, admiration, and melancholy; where the mind 
may be said to be passive : and it is this general tend- 
ency of the plaintive tone to assume the rising in- 
flexion, which inclines injudicious readers to adopt it 
at those pauses where the falling inflexion is absolutely 
necessary ; and for want of which the pronunciation 
degenerates into the whine, so much and so justly 
disliked ; for it is very remarkable, that if, where the 
sense concludes, we are careful to preserve the falling 
inflexion, and let the voice drop into the natural 
talking tone, the voice may be suspended in the 
rising inflexion on any other part of the verse, with 
very little danger of falling into the chant of bad 
readers. Thus in the following passage which opens 
the tragedy of Cato : 

The dawn is overcast, the morning low'rs, 
And heavily in clouds brings on the day ; 
The great, the important day, big with the fate 
Of Cato and of Rome. 

The grandeur of the objects and swell of language 
in this description, naturally throw the voice into 
those tones that express the awe and dignity which 
these objects excite in the mind ; and these tones 

r 2 



244< ELEMENTS OF 

being inclined to the plaintive, naturally slide into 
the rising inflexion on the pauses ; and this is 
apt to draw the voice into a chant : but let the word 
Rome have the falling inflexion and sink into a lower 
key, in the natural talking tone, and the imperfec- 
tions in pronouncing the former part will be in a 
great measure covered ; on the contrary, though the 
former part be pronounced ever so accurately, if the 
word Rome has the rising inflexion, the whole will 
appear to be unfinished, and have a disagreeable 
whining tone. 

This may suffice to show the necessity of attending 
to the pronunciation of periods in verse, and of giving 
them the same inflexion of voice they would require 
in prose ; for it must be carefully noted, that though 
we often end with the rising inflexion in verse, where 
we should use the falling in prose, yet if in prose it is 
necessary we should end with the rising inflexion, we 
ought always to end with the same inflexion in verse ; 
in this case, the rising inflexion at the end of a sen- 
tence will not appear to have the whining tone. Thus, 
where a question would require the rising inflexion 
in prose, verse will necessarily require it to end 
with the same inflexion : and in this case, the rising 
inflexion will have no bad effect on the ear. 



EXAMPLE. 

What ! shall an African, shall Juba's heir 
Reproach great Cato's son, and show the world 
A virtue wanting in a Roman soul ! 

Here, though everypause requires the rising inflexion, 
and the period the same, yet as this period is an inter- 
rogation requiring the rising inflexion, no whining 
chant is the consequence, but the whole is natural. 

From these observations, this general rule will 
naturally arise ; that though, in verse, we frequently 
suspend the voice by the rising inflexion, where, if the 
composition were prose, ive should adopt the falling ; 



ELOCUTION. 245 

yet wherever, in prose, the member or sentence, ivould 
necessarily require the rising inflexion, this inflexion 
must necessarily be adopted in verse. An instance of 
all these causes maybe found in the following example 
from Pope : 

He who through vast immensity can pierce, 
See worlds on worlds compose one universe ; 
Observe how system into system runs, 
What other planets circle other suns j 
What vary'd being peoples ev'ry star, 
May tell why Heav'n has made us as we are. 
But of this frame, the bearings and the ties, 
The strong connexions, nice dependencies, 
Gradations just, has thy pervading soul 
Look'd through ? or can a part contain the whole ? 

Is the great chain that draws all to agree, 
And draws supports, upheld by God, or thee ? 

If this passage were prose, every line but the fifth 
might end with the falling inflexion, like a commenc- 
ing series of five members ; but the fifth, being that 
where the two principle constructive parts unite, and 
the sense begins to form, here, both in prose and verse, 
must be the principal pause, and the rising inflexion.* 
The two questions with which this sentence ends, 
ought to have the rising inflexion also, as this is the 
inflexion they would necessarily have in prose ; 
though from injudiciously printing the last couplet so 
as to form a fresh paragraph, the word whole is gene- 
rally pronounced with the falling inflexion, in order 
to avoid the bad effect of a question with the rising 
inflexion at the end of a paragraph ; which would be 
effectually prevented by uniting the last couplet to 
the rest, so as to form one whole portion ; and which 
was undoubtedly the intention of the poet. 

Having premised these observations, we shall en- 
deavour to throw together a few rules for the reading 
of verse, which, by descending to particulars, it is 
hoped will be more useful than those very general 

* See Part I. p. 67,77- 



246 ELEMENTS OF 

ones which are commonly to be met with on this sub- 
ject ; and which, though very ingenious, seem cal- 
culated rather for the making of verses than the read- 
ing of them. 

Rule I. As the exact tone of the passion, or emotion, 
which verse excites, is not at first easy to hit, it will 
beproper always tobegin apoem in a simple and almost 
prosaic style, and so proceed till we are warmed with 
the subject, and feel the emotion we wish to express. 

Thus in Gray's Elegy in a Country Church-yard, 
if we cannot immediately strike into the solemn 
style with which that poem begins, it will be bet- 
ter to commence with an easier and less marking 
tone ; and somewhat like the style of reading prose, 
till the subject becomes a little familiar. There 
are few poems which will not allow of this prosaic 
commencement ; and where they do not, it is a much 
less fault in reading to begin with too little empha- 
sis, than either to strike into a wrong one, or to 
execute the right emphasis awkwardly. Gray's 
Elegy on the Extirpation of the Bards, is almost the 
only one that does not admit of commencing mode- 
ratelv. 

Ruin seize thee, ruthless king ! 
Contusion on thy banners wait ! Sec. 



Rule II. In verse every syllable is to have the same 
accent, and every word the same emphasis, as in 
prose ; for though the rhythmical arrangement of the 
accent and emphasis is the very definition of poetry, 
yet, if this arrangement tends to give an emphasis to 
words which would have none in prose, or an accent 
to such syllables as have properly no accent, the 
rhythm us, or music of the verse, must be entirely 
neglected. Thus the article the ought never to have 
a stress, though placed in that part of the verse 
where the ear expects an accent. 



ELOCUTION. 247 

Of all tlie causes which conspire to blind 
Man's erring judgment and misguide the mind, 
What the weak head with strongest bias rules, 
Is pride ; the never-failing vice of fools. Pope. 

An injudicious reader of verse would be very apt to 
lay a stress upon the article the in the third line, but a 
good reader would infallibly neglect the stress on this, 
and transfer it to the words what and weak. Thus 
also in the following example, no stress must be laid 
on the word of, because we should not give it any in 
prosaic pronunciation : 

Ask of thy mother earth why oaks are made 
Taller and stronger than the weeds they shade. Ibid. 

For the same reason the word as, either in the first 
or second line of the following couplet, ought to have 
no stress : 

Eye nature's walk, shoot folly as it flies, 
And catch the manners living as they rise. Ibid. 

The last syllable of the word excellent, in the follow- 
ing couplet, being the place of the stress, is very 
apt to draw the organs to a wrong fpronunciation 
of the word, in compliance with the rhythmus of the 
verse : 

Their praise is still the style is excellent : 
The sense they humbly take upon content. Ibid. 

But a stress upon the last syllable of this word must 
be avoided upon pain of the greatest possible re- 
proach to a good reader ; which is that of altering the 
accent of a word, to indulge the ear in a childish 
jingle^of syllables. The same may be observed of the 
word eloquence and the particle the in the following 
couplet : 



False eloquence like the prismatic glass 
Its gaudy colours spreads on ev'ry place. 



Ibid, 



248 ELEMENTS OF 

If in compliance with the rhythmus, or tune of the 
verses, we were to lay a stress on the last syllable of 
eloquence, and on the particle the in the first of these 
verses, scarcely any thing can be conceived more 
disgusting to a good judge of reading. 

A bad fault opposite to this is very common among 
bad readers ; and that is, hurrying over the two last 
syllables of such words so as to reduce the pronuncia- 
tion to prose : for it must be carefully noted, that the 
beauty of reading verse depends exceedingly upon the 
tune in which we pronounce it. The unaccented 
syllables, though less forcible, ought to have the same 
time as those that are accented ; a regular march, 
an agreeable movement, ought to reign through 
the whole. 

This rule, however, with respect to the place 
of the accent, admits of some few exceptions. Mil- 
ton has sometimes placed words so unfavourably for 
pronunciation in the common way, that the ear would 
be more disgusted with the harshness of the verse, if 
the right accent were preserved, than with a wrong 
accent which preserves the harmony of the verse : 
for it is not merely reducing a line to prose if the 
sense requires it, which is a capital fault in reading 
poetry, but reducing it to very harsh and disagreeable 
prose. Thus the Angel, in Milton, reasoning with 
Adam about the planets, says, 

For such vast room in nature unpossessed 
By living soul, desert and desolate 
Only to shine yet scarcely to cdntribute 
Each orb a glimpse of light, convey'd so far 
Down to this habitable, which returns 
Light back to them, is obvious to dispute. 

Par ad. Lost, B. viii. v. 153, 

The word contribute has properly the accent on the 
second syllable; but the verse would Jbe so harsh 
with this accent, that it is presumed a good reader 
would, for the sake of sound, lay the principal 



ELOCUTION. 249 

accent on the first syllable, and a subordinate stress 
on the third. The same may be observed of the 
word attribute^ in the following passage from the 
same author : 



The swiftness of those circles attribute, 
Though numberless, to this Omnipotence, 
That to corporeal substances could add 
Speed almost spiritual. Farad. Lost, B. viii. 197 



Where a word admits of some diversity in placing 
the accent, it is scarcely necessary to observe/that 
the verse ought in this case to decide. Thus in the 
following passage : 

Now gentle gales 
Fanning their odoriferous wings dispense 
Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole 
Those balmy spoils. Ibid. B. iv. v. 156. 



For Hamlet and the trifling of his favour 
Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, 
A violet in the youth and prime of nature, 
Forward not permanent, though sweet not lasting, 
The perfume of a minute. Shakspeare. 



The word perfume in the passage from Milton ought 
to be accented on the last syllable, and the same 
word in Shakspeare on the first ,• for both these 
modes of placing the accent are allowable in prose, 
though the last seems the preferable ; as it is agree- 
able to that analogy of dissyllable nouns and verbs 
of the same form which requires the accent to be 
on the first syllable of the noun, and on the last of 
the verb. 

]>ut when the poet has with great judgment con- 
trived that his numbers shall be harsh and grating, 
in order to correspond to the ideas they suggest, the 
common accentuation must be preserved. 



250 ELEMENTS OF 

On a sudden open fly 
With impetuous recoil and jarring- sound 
Th' infernal doors, and on their hinges grate 
Harsh thunder. Parad. Lost, B. ii. v. 879. 

Here the harshness arising from the accent on the 
second syllable of the word impetuous, finely expresses 
the recoil and jarring sounds of the gates of hell. 

Rule III. The vowel e, which is often cut off by 
an apostrophe in the word the, and in syllables before 
r, as dangerous, genrous, &c. ought to be preserved in 
the pronunciation, because the syllable it forms is so 
short as to admit of being sounded with the preceding 
syllable, so as not to increase the number of syllables 
to the ear, or at all hurt the harmony. 

'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill 
Appear in writing, or in judging ill 5 
But of the two less dang'rous is the offence, 
To tire our patience, than mislead our sense. Pope. 

Him the Almighty power 
Hurl'd headlong flaming from th' ethereal sky 
With hideous ruin and combustion, down 
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell 
In adamantine chains, and penal fire, 
Who durst defy th' Omnipotent to arms. Milton. 

In the example from Milton, we have an instance 
that the particle the may either form a distinct syl- 
lable in poetry or not ; in the first line it *must ne- 
cessarily form a distinct syllable ; in the second and 
last it may be so blended with the succeeding word 
as to be pronounced without elision, and yet form 
no distinct syllable. 

Rule IV. Almost every verse admits of a pause 
in or near the middle of the line, which is called the 
caesura ; this must be carefully observed in reading- 
verse, or much of the distinctness, and almost ad the 
harmony, will be lost. • 



ELOCUTION. 251 



EXAMPLE. 



Nature to all things fix'd the limits fit, 

And wisely curb'd proud man's pretending wit j 

As on the land, while here the ocean gains, 

In other parts it leaves wide sandy plains ; 

Thus in the soul, while memory prevails, 

The solid pow'r of understanding fails j 

Where beams of warm imagination play 

The memory's soft figures melt away. Pope. 

These lines have seldom any points inserted in the 
middle, even by the most scrupulous punctuist ; and 
yet nothing can be more palpable to the ear, than 
that a pause, in the first at things, in the second at 
curb'd, in the third at land, in the fourth at parts, 
and in the fifth at soul, is absolutely necessary to 
the harmony of these lines ; and that the sixth, by 
admitting no pause but at understanding, and the 
seventh, none but at imagination, border very nearly 
upon prose. The reason why these lines will not 
admit of a pause any where but at these words will 
be evident to those who have perused the former part 
of this work on the division of a sentence (Part I. 
page 16) ; and if the reader would see one of the 
most curious pieces of analysis on this subject in any 
language, let him peruse in Lord Kaims's Elements of 
Criticism the chapter on Versification, where he will 
find the subject of pausing, as it relates to verse, 
discussed in the deepest, clearest, and most satisfac- 
tory manner. It will be only necessary to observe, 
in this place 5 that though the most harmonious place 
for the capital pause is after the fourth syllable, it 
may, for the sake of expressing the sense strongly 
and suitably, and sometimes even for the sake of va- 
riety, be placed at several other intervals. 

EXAMPLE. 

'Tis hard to say — if greater want of skill. 
So when an angel — by divine command, 
With rising tempest — shakes a guilty land. 
Then from his clossng eyes— thy form shall part, 



252 ELEMENTS OF 

And the last pang — shall tear thee from his heart. 
Inspir'd repuls'd battalions — to engage, 
And taught the doubtful battle — where to rage. 
Know, then, thyself — presume not God to scan ; 
The proper study of mankind is man. 

But besides the capital pause, there are certain sub- 
ordinate pauses, which, though not so essential as 
the capital pause, yet according to some of our pro- 
sodists, form some of the greatest delicacies in reading 
verse, and are an inexhaustible source of variety and 
harmony in the composition of poetic numbers. But 
in the exemplifying of this demi-ccesura, or subordi- 
nate pause, our prosodists either show the impropriety 
of many of these pauses, or that they may be ac- 
counted for upon a different principle. 

EXAMPLE. 

Relent | less walls || whose darksome round | contains. 
For her | white virgins || hyme | neals sing. 
In these | deep solitudes || and awe | ful eels. 

Nothing could be more puerile and destructive of 
the sense than to make pauses as they are here marked 
in the middle of the words relentless, hymeneal, and 
awful, which are the instances Lord Kaims brings of 
the use of this half pause. In the lines quoted by 
Mr. Sheridan, as instances of the demi-csesura, we 
find an emphatic opposition at every one ; and this 
opposition always requires a pause, whether in prose 
or verse. See Part I. p. 49- 

Glows | while he reads || but trembles | as he writes. 
Reason | the card || but passion | is the gale. 
From men ] their cities [] and from | gods their fanes. 
From storms j a shelter || and from heat | a shade. 

So that, on the whole, notwithstanding the decided 
manner in which these prosodists speak of the demi- 
ccesura as necessary in verse, I am apt to conclude 
that it often exists no where but in their own imagi- 



ELOCUTION. 253 

nations. But the next Rule will lead us to the con- 
sideration of a pause of much more importance, 
which is a pause at the end of the line. 

Rule V. At the end of every line in poetry must 
be a pause proportioned to the intimate or remote 
connection subsisting between the two lines. 

Mr. Sheridan, in his Art of Reading, has insisted 
largely on the necessity of making a pause at the end 
of every line in poetry, whether the sense requires it 
or not, which he says has hitherto escaped the obser- 
vation of all writers on the subject; and, this he ob- 
serves, is so necessary, that without it we change the 
verse into prose. It is with diffidence I dissent from 
such an authority, especially as I have heard it ap- 
proved by persons of great judgment and taste.* I 
must own, however, that the necessity of this pause, 
where the sense does not require it, is not so evident 
to me as to remove every doubt about it ; for, in the 
first place, if the author has so united the preceding 
and following lines in verse as to make them real 
prose, why is a reader to do that which his author has 
neglected to do ; and indeed seems to have forbidden 
by the very nature of the composition ? In the next 
place, this slight and almost insensible pause of sus- 
pension does not seem to answer the end proposed by 
it; which is, that of making the ear sensible of the 
versification, or of the number of accentual impres- 
sions in every line. For this final pause is often so 
small, when compared with that which precedes or 
follows it in the body of the line, and this latter and 
larger pause is so often accompanied with an inflexion 
of voice which marks the formation of perfect sense, 



* I asked Dr. Lowth, Mr. Garriek, and Dr. Johnson, about the 
propriety of this pause, and they all agreed with Mr. Sheridan. 
Had I been less acquainted with the subject, and seen less of the falli- 
bility of great names upon it, I should have yielded to this decision ; 
but great names are nothing where the matter in question is open 
to experiment j and to this experiment I appeal. 



254 ELEMENTS OF 

that the boundaries of the verse become almost, if not 
utterly imperceptible, and the composition, for a few 
lines, falls into an harmonious kind of prose. For it is 
evident that it is not a small pause at the end of a line 
in verse, which makes it appear poetry to the ear, so 
much as that adjustment of the accented syllables 
which forms a regular return of stress, whether the line 
be long or short. Accordingly, we find, that those 
lines in blank verse, which have a long pause in the 
middle from a conclusion of the sense, and a very 
short one at the end, from the sense continuing, are, 
in spite of all our address in reading, very prosaical. 
This prosaic air in these lines may have a very good 
effect in point of expression and variety, but if too fre- 
quently repeated, will undoubtedly render the verse 
almost imperceptible; for, as was before observed, the 
ear will measure the lines by the greatest pauses, and 
if these fall within, and not at the end of the line, the 
versification will seem to be composed of unequal lines, 
and will want that measure which the ear always 
expects in verse, and never dispenses with, but when 
sense, variety, or expression is promoted by it. 

EXAMPLES. 

Deeds of eternal fame 
Were done, but infinite j for wide was spread 
That war, and various ; sometimes on firm ground 
A standing fight j then soaring on main wing, 
Tormented all the air ; all air seem'd then 
Conflicting fire : long time in even scale 
The battle hung Milton. 



The pauses at the end of these lines are so small, 
when compared with these in the body of the lines, 
that an appeal may be made to every ear for the 
truth of what has been just observed. This dispro- 
portion in the pauses cannot, however, be said to re- 
duce the composition to prose ; nay, even if we were 
to use no pauses at all at the end of the lines, they 



ELOCUTION. 255 

would not, on this account, entirely lose their poetic 
character ; for, at worst, they might be called nume- 
rous or harmonious prose ; and that the greatest part 
of blank verse is neither more nor less than this, it 
would' not be difficult to prove. 

Mr. Sheridan defines numbers to be certain impres- 
sions made on the ear at stated and regular distances; 
and as he supposes verse would be no verse without a 
pause at the end of each line, he must define verse 
to be a certain number of impressions made on the 
ear at stated and regular distances, terminated by a 
pause, so as to make this number of impressions per- 
ceptibly equal in every line. But if a pause comes 
into the definition of verse because it serves to show 
the equal number of impressions in every line, a 
pause that is insufficient for this purpose is not, strictly 
speaking, a poetical pause ; for if the pause classes 
words into such portions as oblige the ear to perceive 
the equality or inequality of these portions, the 
longest pauses will be the boundaries of those portions 
the ear will most readily perceive, and the short 
pauses will, like the demi-caesura, appear either im- 
perceptible or subservient only to the greater pause : 
Thus the foregoing passage from Milton will, while 
we are pronouncing it, address the ear in the same 
manner it does the eye in the following arrange- 
ment : 

Deeds of eternal fame were done, but infinite : 
For wide was spread that war and various ; 
Sometimes on firm ground a standing fight ; 
Then soaring on main wing, tormented all the air j 
All air seem'd then conflicting fire : 
Long time in even scale the battle hung. 

This arrangement of the words, though exactly 
classed into those portions in which they come to the 
ear, seems to destroy the verse to the eye, and to re- 
duce it into what may be called numerous prose : but 
have we not reason to suspect that the e} 7 e puts a cheat 
upon the ear, by making us imagine a pause to exist 



256 ELEMENTS OF 

where there is only a vacancy to the eye ? Mr. She- 
ridan has very properly accounted for the perception 
of false quantity in Latin verse by this association of 
visible and audible objects, and there seems an equal 
reason to suspect the same fallacy here. 

The best pronouncers of tragedy have never ob- 
served this pause, and why it should be introduced 
into other composition is not easily comprehended : 
the numbers of the verse, the dignity of the lan- 
guage, an inversion of the common order of the 
words, sufficiently preserve it from falling into prose; 
and if the name of verse only be wanting, the loss is 
not very considerable. When the line is terminated 
by a rhyme, the boundaries of the verse are very 
discernable by the smallest pause ; though the most 
harmonious rhyming verse must be acknowledged to 
be that where the rhyme is accompanied by a consi- 
derable pause in the sense ; but as too long a succes- 
sion of these lines satiates the ear with too much 
equality, we readily exchange sound for variety or 
force of expression. Sometimes even the pauses before 
and after a rhyme are so considerable, and that at the 
end of the rhyme so small, that the boundaries of the 
verse are lost in the rapidity of the expression. 

Which, without passing through the judgment, gains 
The heart, and all its end at once attains. Pope. 

'Tis with our judgments as our watches ; none 
Go just alike, yet each believes his own. Ibid. 

In these lines I think it is evident, that if we make 
a small pause of suspension, as Mr. Sheridan calls it, 
at the end of the first verse, the pauses of sense at 
judgment, and heart, and at watches and alike, are so 
much more perceptible, that every trace of the length 
of the verse is lost: the same may be observed of the 
following lines of Milton : 

Sing heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top 
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire 



ELOCUTION. 257 

That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed 

In the beginning, how the heav'ns and earth 

Rose out of chaos : Or if Sion hill 

Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook, that flow'd 

Fast by the oracle of God ; I thence 

Invoke thy aid to my advent'rous song. 

In the fifth, sixth, and seventh lines of this passage, 
the pause in the sense falls so distinctly on the words 
chaos, more, and God, that a slight pause at kill, 
flowd, and thence, would not have the least power of 
informing the ear of the end of the line, and of the 
equality of the verse, and, therefore, for these pur- 
poses would be entirely useless. For in all pronuncia- 
tion, whether prosaic or poetic, at the beginning of 
every fresh portion, the mind must necessarily have 
the pause of the sense in view ; and this prospect of 
the sense must regulate the voice for that portion, to 
the entire neglect of any length in the verse, as an 
-attention to this must necessarily interrupt that flow 
or current in the pronunciation which the sense de- 
mands. Thus the current of the voice is stopped at 
chaos ; and the succeeding part of the verse, Or if 
Sion hill, is so much detached from the preceding 
part, that the ad measurement of the verse is destroyed 
to the ear, and we might add a foot more to the latter 
part of the verse without seeming at all to lengthen 
it ; we might, for example, write the line in this 
manner, 

Rose out of Chaos ; or if Sion's verdant hill, 

without any indication of false quantity to the ear, 
though the eye scans it as too long by two syllables. 

The affectation which most writers of blank verse 
have of extending the sense beyond the line, whether 
necessary or not, is followed by a similar affectation 
in the printer, who will often omit placing a pause 
at the end of a line of verse, where he, would have 
inserted one in prose ; and this affectation is still car- 

s 



258 ELEMENTS OF 

ried farther by the reader, who will generally run the 
sense of one line into another, where there is the least 
opportunity of doing it, in order to show that he is 
too sagacious to suppose there is any conclusion in 
the sense because the line concludes. This affecta- 
tion, I say, has possibly given rise to the opposite one 
adopted by the learned ; namely, that of pausing 
where the sense absolutely forbids a pause, and so by 
shunning Scylla, to fall into Charybdis : this error is 
excellently described by Pope : 

The vulgar thus through imitation err, 
As oft the learn'd by being singular ; 
So much they hate the crowd, that if the throng 
By chance go right, they purposely go wrong. 

The truth is, the end of a line in verse naturally in- 
clines us to pause; and the words that refuse a pause 
so seldom occur at the end of a verse, that we often 
pause between words in verse where we should not in 
prose, but where a pause would by no means interfere 
with the sense : this, it is presumed, has been fully 
shown in a former part of this work; and, this per- 
haps, may be the reason why a pause at the end of a 
line in poetry is supposed to be in compliment to the 
verse, when the very same pause in prose is allowable, 
and, perhaps, eligible, but neglected as unnecessary: 
however this be, certain it is, that if we pronounce 
many lines in Milton, so as to make the equality of 
impressions on the ear distinctly perceptible at the 
end of every line ; if by making this pause, we make 
the pauses that mark the sense less perceptible, we 
exchange a solid advantage for a childish rhythm, 
and, by endeavouring to preserve the name of verse, 
lose ail its meaning and energy. 

Rule VI. In order to form a cadence in a period 
in rhyming verse, we must adopt the falling inflexion 
with considerable force, in the caesura of the last line 
but one. 



ELOCUTION. 259 



EXAMPLE. 

One science only will one genius fit, 
So vast is art, so narrow human wit -, 
Not only bounded to peculiar arts, 
But oft in those confin'd to single parts ; 
Like kings we lose the conquests gain'd before, 
By vain ambition still to make them more ; 
Each might his several province || well command. 
Would all but stoop to what they understand. 

In repeating these lines, we shall find it necessary 
to form the cadence by giving the falling inflexion 
with a little more force than common to the word 
province. The same may be observed of the word 
prospect, in the last line but one of the following 
page: 

So pleas'd at first, the tow'ring Alps we try, 
Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky 5 
Th' eternal snows appear already past, 
And the first clouds and mountains seem the last : 
But those attain'd, we tremble to survey 
The growing labours of the lengthen'd way ; 
Th' increasing prospect || tires our wand'ring eyes, 
Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise. 

Rule VII. A simile in poetry ought always to be 
read in a lower tone of voice than that part of the 
passage which precedes it. 

EXAMPLE. 

'Twas then great Marlb'rough's mighty soul was prov'd, 
That in the shock of charging hosts unmov'd, 
Amidst confusion, horror, and despair, 
Examin'd all the dreadful scenes of war. 
In peaceful thought the field of death survey'd, 
To fainting squadrons sent the timely aid j 
Inspir'd repuls'd battalions to engage, 
And taught the doubtful battle where to rage. 
So when an angel, by divine command 
With rising tempest shakes a guilty land 
(Such as of late o'er pale Britannia past), 
Calm and serene he drives the furious blast ; 
And, pleas'd th' Almighty's orders to perform, 
Rides on the whirlwind, and directs the storm., Addison. 
s2 



260 ELEMENTS OF 

Rule VIII. Where there is no pause in the sense 
at the end of the verse, the last words must have ex- 
actly the same inflexion it would have in prose. 

EXAMPLE. 

O'er their heads a crystal firmament, 
Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with pure * 
Amber, and colours of the show'ry arch. Milton. 

In this example, the word pure must have the falling 
inflexion, whether we make any pause at it or not, as 
this is the inflexion the word would have if the sen- 
tence were pronounced prosaically. For the same 
reason the words retired and went, in the following 
example, must be pronounced with the rising in- 
flexion. 

At his command th' uprooted hills retir'd 
Each to his place ; they heard his voice and went 
Obsequious ; heav'n his wonted face renewed, 
And with fresh fiow'rets hill and valley smil'd. 

Rule IX. Sublime, grand, and magnificent descrip- 
tion in poetry, frequently requires a lower tone of 
voice, and a sameness nearly approaching to a mo- 
notone, to give it variety. 

This rule will surprise many who have always been 
taught to look upon a monotone or sameness of voice 
as a deformity in reading. A deformity it certainly 
is, when it arises either from a want of power to alter 
the voice, or a want of judgment to introduce it pro- 
perly; but I presume it may be with confidence 
affirmed, that when it is introduced with propriety, it 
is one of the greatest embellishments of poetic pro- 
nunciation. Nay, a monotone connected with pre- 
ceding and succeeding inflexions, is a real variety, 
and is exactly similar to a succession of the same 
identical notes in music ; which, considered apart, is 

* This, it is presumed, is an instance, that a pause of suspension 
may sometimes be improper at the end of a line. See pages 255, 256. 



ELOCUTION. 261 

perfectly monotonous, but, taken with what goes 
before and follows, is among the finest beauties of 
composition. 

The use of the monotone has already been exem- 
plified, page 70, in the grand description of Satan's 
throne, at the beginning of the Second Book of Para- 
dise Lost, and may be farther illustrated by a passage 
of the Allegro of the same poet. 

Hence ! loath'd Melancholy, 

Of Cerberus, and blackest Midnight born, 
In Stygian cave forlorn, 

'Mongst horrid shapes and shrieks, and sights unholy. 
Find out some uncouth cell, 

Where brooding darkness spreads his jealous wings, 
And the night raven sings 5 

There, under ebon shades and low-brow'd rocks, 
As ragged as thy locks, 

In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell. 

In repeating this passage, w T e shall find the dark- 
ness and horror of the cell wonderfully augmented, 
by pronouncing the eighth line, 

There, under ebon shades, and low-brow'd rocks, 

in a low monotone ; which monotone may not be 
improperly signified, by the horizontal line generally 
used to mark long quantity ; as this line is perfectly 
descriptive of a sameness of tone 5 as the acute and 
grave accent are of variety. 



262 ELEMENTS OF 



Modulation of the Voice. 

After a perfect idea is attained of the pause, em- 
phasis, and inflexion, with which we ought to pro- 
nounce every word, sentence, interrogation, climax, 
and different figure of speech, it will be absolutely 
necessary to be acquainted with the power, variety, 
and extent of the instrument, through which we con- 
vey them to others ; for unless this instrument be in 
a proper pitch, whatever we pronounce will be feeble 
and unnatural ; as it is only in a certain pitch that 
the voice can command the greatest variety of tones, 
so as to utter them with energy and ease. 

Every one has a certain pitch of voice, in which 
he is most easy to himself, and most agreeable to 
others ; this may be called the natural pitch : this is 
the pitch in which we converse ; and this must be 
the basis of every improvement we acquire from art 
and exercise : for such is the force of exercise upon 
the organs of speech, as well as every other in the hu- 
man body, that constant practice will strengthen the 
voice in any key we use it to, even though this hap- 
pen not to be the most natural and easy at first. This 
is abundantly proved by the strong vociferation which 
the itinerant retailers in the streets acquire after a few 
years' practice. Whatever key they happen to pitch 
upon at first is generally preserved; and the voice in 
that note becomes wonderfully strong and sonorous : 
but as the Spectator humurously observes, their 
articulation is generally so indistinct, that we under- 
stand what they sell, not so much by the words as 
the tune. 

As constant exercise is of such importance to 
strengthen the voice, care should be taken, that we 
exercise it on that part where it has naturally the 
greatest power and variety : this is the middle tone ; 



ELOCUTION. %6S 

the tone we habitually make use of, when we converse 
with, or speak to persons at a moderate distance ; for 
if we call out to one who is so far off as to be almost 
out of hearing, we naturally raise our voice to a higher 
key, as well as swell it upon that key to a much 
greater degree of loudness ; as, on the contrary, if we 
wish to be heard only by a single person in company, 
we naturally let fall our voice into a lower key, and 
abate the force of it, so as to keep it from being heard 
by any but the person we are speaking to. 

In this situation nature dictates : but the situation 
of the public speaker is a situation of art ; he not 
only wishes to be heard, but to be heard with energy 
and ease ; for this purpose, his voice must be power- 
ful in that key which is easiest to him, in that which 
he will most naturally fall into, and which he will 
certainly have the most frequent occasion to use ; 
and this is the middle tone. 

But before we enter farther on this subject, it seems 
absolutely necessary to obviate a very common mis- 
take with respect to the voice, which may lead to an 
incurable error ; and that is, the confounding of high 
and low with loud and soft. These plain differences 
are as often jumbled together as accent and quantity, 
though to much worse purpose. Our mistaking of 
accent for quantity when we converse about it, makes 
not the least alteration in our speaking ; but if, when 
we ought only to be louder, we raise our voice to a 
higher key, our tones become shrill and feeble, and 
frustrate the very intention of speaking. 

Those who understand ever so little of music, know 
that high and loud, and soft and low are by no means 
necessarily connected j and that we may be very soft 
in a high note, and very loud in a low one ; just as a 
smart stroke on a bell may have exactly the same 
note as a slight one, though it is considerably louder. 
But to explain this difference to those who are unac- 
quainted with music, we may say, that a high tone 
is that we naturally assume when we wish to be heard 



264 ELEMENTS OF 

at a distance, as the same degree of force is more 
audible in a high, than in a low tone, from the acute- 
ness of the former, and the gravity of the latter ; and 
that a low tone is that we naturally assume when we 
are speaking to a person at a small distance, and wish 
not to be heard by others ; as a low tone with the 
same force is less audible than a high one ; if, there- 
fore, we raise our voice to the pitch we should natur- 
ally use if we were calling to a person at a great dis- 
tance, and at the same time exert so small a degree 
of force as to be heard only by a person who is near 
us, we shall have an example of a high note in a soft 
tone ; and on the contrary, if we suppose ourselves 
speaking to a person at a small distance, and wish to 
be heard by those who are at a greater, in this situa- 
tion we shall naturally sink the voice into a low note, 
and throw just as much force or loudness into it as is 
necessary to make it audible to the persons at a dis- 
tance. This is exactly the manner which actors 
speak the speeches that are spoken aside. The low 
tone conveys the idea of speaking to a person near us, 
and the loud tone enables us to convey this idea to a 
distance. By this experiment we perceive, that high 
and loud, and soft and low, though most frequently 
associated, are essentially distinct from each other. 

Such, however, is the nature of the human voice, 
that to begin in the extremes of high and low are not 
equally dangerous. The voice naturally slides into a 
higher tone, when we want to speak louder, but not so 
easily into a lower tone, when we would speak more 
softly. Experience shows us, that we can raise our 
voice at pleasure to any pitch it is capable of; but 
the same experience tells us, that it requires infinite 
art and practice to bring the voice to a lower key 
when it is once raised too high. It ought, therefore, 
to be a first principle with all public readers and 
speakers, rather to begin under the common level of 
their voice than above it. The attention of an audi- 
tory at the commencement of a lecture or oration, 



ELOCUTION. 265 

makes the softest accents of the speaker audible, at 
the same time that it affords a happy occasion for 
introducing a variety of voice, without which every 
address must soon tire. A repetition of the same 
subject a thousand times over, is not more tiresome 
to the understanding, than a monotonous delivery of 
the most varied subject to the ear. Poets, to produce 
variety, alter the structure of their verse, and rather 
hazard uncouthness and discord than sameness. Prose 
writers change the style, turn, and structure of their 
periods, and sometimes throw in exclamations, and 
sometimes interrogations, to rouse and keep alive the 
attention ; but all this art is entirely thrown away, if 
the reader does not enter into the spirit of his author, 
and by a similar kind of genius, render even variety 
itself more various ; if he does not by an alteration 
in his voice, manner, tone, gesture, loudness, soft- 
ness, quickness, slowness, adopt every change of 
which the subject is susceptible. 

Every one, therefore, who would acquire variety 
of tone in public reading or speaking, must avoid as 
the greatest evil a loud and vociferous beginning ; 
and for that purpose it would be prudent in a reader 
or speaker to adapt his voice as if only to be heard 
by the person who is nearest to him ; if his voice has 
natural strength, and the subject any thing impas- 
sioned in it, a higher and louder tone will insensibly 
steal on him ; and his greatest address must be di- 
rected to keeping it within bounds. For this pur- 
pose it will be frequently necessary for him to recall 
his voice, as it were, from the extremities of his audi- 
tory, and direct it to those who are nearest to him. 
This it will be proper to do almost at the beginning 
of every paragraph in reading, and at the introduc- 
tion of every part of the subject in discourse. No- 
thing will so powerfully work on the voice, as sup- 
posing ourselves conversing at different intervals with 
different parts of the audience. 

A celebrated writer on this subject directs a reader 



266 ELEMENTS OF 

or speaker, upon his first addressing an auditory, to 
fix his eyes upon that part of them from which he is 
the farthest, and to pitch his voice so as to reach 
them. This, I fear, would be attended with very ill 
consequences if the assembly were very large ; as a 
speaker would be strongly tempted to raise his voice, 
as well as increase its force ; and by this means begin 
in a key much too high for the generality of his audi- 
tory, or for his own powders to continue it. The safest 
rule, therefore, is certainly to begin, as it were, with 
those of the assembly that are nearest to us ; and if 
the voice be but articulate, however low the key may 
be, it will still be audible ; and those who have a suf- 
ficient strength of voice for a public auditory, find it 
so much more difficult to bring down than raise the 
pitch, that they will not wonder I employ my chief 
care to guard against an error by far the most com- 
mon, as well as the most dangerous. 

Much, undoubtedly, will depend on the size and 
structure of the place we speak in : some are so im- 
mensely large, as many of our churches and cathe- 
drals, that the voice is nearly as much dissipated as 
in the open air, and often with the additional incon-, 
venience of a thousand confused echos and re-echos. 
Here a loud a vociferous speaker will render him- 
self unintelligible in proportion to his exertion of 
voice : as departing and commencing sounds will en- 
counter each other, and defeat every intention of 
distinctness and harmony. 

Nothing but good articulation will make a speaker 
audible in this situation, and a judicious attention to 
that tone of voice which is most suitable to the size 
and imperfections of the place. If the place we 
speak in be but small, it will scarcely be necessary to 
observe that the loudness of the voice should be in 
proportion. Those who have not ears sufficiently de- 
licate to discern the true quantity of sound necessary 
to fill the place they speak in, ought to take every 
possible method to acquire so essential a qualification. 



ELOCUTION. 267 

A knowledge of music, many trials of different de- 
grees of loudness, and the friendly criticism of good 
judges, may do much towards acquiring this accom- 
plishment ; and it must ever be remembered, that 
high and low are essentially distinct from loud and 
soft ; as we may with the utmost propriety be at the 
highest note of our voice in the smallest room, pro- 
vided we are not too loud, and use the lowest part of 
our voice in the largest, provided we are not too soft 
and indistinct to be heard. 

In order to reduce the foregoing observations to 
practice, it may not be unprofitable to attend to the 
following rules. 

Rule I. To gain a habit of lowering the voice, it 
will be necessary to drop the voice to a lower key 
upon the end of one sentence, and to commence the 
next sentence in the same low key with which we 
concluded the former ; for this purpose, it will be ne- 
cessary to select sentences where this pronunciation 
is eligible, and practise upon them. 



EXAMPLES. 

Our sight is the most perfect and most delightful of all our senses. 
It fills the mind with the largest variety of ideas, converses with its 
objects at the greatest distance, and continues the longest in action 
without being tired or satiated with its proper enjoyments. The 
sense of feeling can indeed give us a notion of extension, shape, and 
all other ideas that enter at the eye, except colours ; but at the same 
time it is very much straitened and confined in its operations to the 
number, bulk, and distance of its particular objects. Sped. No. 411. 

I shall first consider those pleasures of the imagination which arise 
from the actual view and survey of outward objects ; and these, I 
think, ail proceed from the sight of what is great, uncommon, or 
beautiful. There may, indeed, be something so terrible or offensive, 
that the horror or loathsomeness of the object may overhear the plea- 
sure which results from its greatness, novelty, or beauty ; but still 
there will be such a mixture of delight in the very disgust it gives 
us, as any of these three qualifications are most conspicuous and 
prevailing. Sped. No. 412. 



268 ELEMENTS OF 

The sense of feeling, in the first example, and there 
may, indeed, in the second, may very properly com- 
mence in a low tone of voice, as this tone is generally 
suitable to the concession contained in each of the 
sentences. 

Similes in poetry form proper examples for gaining 
a habit of lowering the voice. 

EXAMPLE. 

He above the rest, 
In shape and gesture proudly eminent, 
Stood like a tow'r. His form had not yet lost 
All its original brightness, nor appear'd 
Less than archangel ruin'd and th' excess 
Of glory obscur'd ; as when the sun new ris'n 
Looks through the horizontal misty air 
Shorn of his beams : or from behind the moon 
In dim eclipse disastrous twilight sheds 
On half the nations, and with fear of change 
Perplexes monarchs. Milton's Paradise Lost. 

In this example are two similes in succession ; and 
it may be observed, that in order to pronounce them 
properly, the voice ought to be twice lowered ; that 
is, on the first simile at as when the sun, and then at 
or from behind the moon, which last simile must be in 
a lower tone of voice than the former, and both nearly 
in a monotone. 

Rule II. This lowering of the voice will be greatly 
facilitated if we begin the words we wish to lower the 
voice upon, in a monotone, or sameness of sound, ap- 
proaching to that produced by repeatedly striking the 
same key of a harpsichord. Thus in the following 
passage from Dr. Akenside's Pleasures of Imagination : 

With what attractive charms this goodly frame 
Of nature, touches the consenting hearts 
Of mortal men ; and what the pleasing stores 
Which beauteous imitation thence derives, 
To deck the poet's or the painter's toil, 51 
My verse unfolds. Attend, ye gentle pow'rs 
Of musical delight ! and while I sing 



ELOCUTION. 269 

Your gifts, your honours, dance around my strain. 

Thou, smiling queen of every tuneful breast, 

Indulgent Fancy j from the fruitful banks 

Of Avon, whence thy rosy fingers cull 

Fresh flow'rs and dews, to sprinkle on the turf 

Where Shakspeare lies, be present ; and with thee 

Let fiction come upon her vagrant wing, 

Wafting ten thousand colours through the air j 

And by the glances of her magic eye, 

Combining each in endless fairy forms 

Her wild creation. Goddess of the lyre, 

Which rules the accents of the moving sphere, 

Wilt thou, eternal Harmony, descend, 

And join this festive train ? for with thee comes 

The guide, the guardian of their lovely sports, 

Majestic Truth ; and where Truth deigns to come 

Her sister Liberty will not be far. 

Be present all ye Genii, who conduct 

The wond'ring footsteps of the youthful bard, 

New to your springs and shades j who touch his ear 

With finer sounds ; who heighten to his eye 

The blooms of nature, and before him turn 

The gayest, happiest, attitudes of things. 

Pleasures of Imagination, Book I. 

This exordium consists of an invocation of several 
poetic powers, each of which ought to be addressed 
in a manner somewhat different ; but none of them 
admits of a difference sufficient to give a variety to a 
long paragraph, except that of eternal Harmony : and 
this from its nature requires a solemn monotone in a 
much lower key than the rest : if therefore we pro- 
nounce the words, 

Goddess of the lyre, 
Which rules the accents,of the moving sphere : 

if, I say, we pronounce these words in a low mono- 
tone, without any inflexion of voice on them ; we 
shall throw a great variety into the whole invocation, 
and give it at the same time that expression which 
the importance of the subject demands. 

Rule III. As few voices are perfect ; those which 
have a good bottom often wanting a top, and in- 
versely ; care should be taken to improve by practice 



270 ELEMENTS OF 

that part of the voice which is most deficient ; for 
instance ; if we want to gain a bottom, we ought to 
practice speeches which require exertion, a little be- 
low the common pitch; when we can do this with 
ease, we may practise them on a little lower note, and 
so on till we are as low as we desire ; for this purpose, 
it will be necessary to repeat such passages as require 
a full audible tone of voice in a low key : of this kind 
is the speech of king John to Hubert, where he takes 
him aside, and tempts him to undertake the death of 
prince Arthur : 



Come hither, Hubert. O, my gentle Hubert, 

We owe thee much ; within this wall of flesh 

There is a soul counts thee her creditor, 

And with advantage means to pay thy love. « 

And, my good friend, thy voluntary oath 

Lives in this bosom, dearly cherished. 

Give me thy hand, I had a thing to say — 

But I will fit it with some better time. 

By heav'n, Huberr, I 'm almost asham'd 

To say what good respect I have of thee. 

Hub. I am much beholden to your majesty. 

K. John. Good friend., thou hast no cause to say so yet, 
But thou shalt have — and creep time ne'er so slow, 
Yet it shall come for me to do thee good. 
I had a thing to say, — but let it go ; 
The sun is in the heav'n, and the proud day, 
Attended with the pleasures of the world, 
Is all too wanton and too full of gaudes 
To give me audience. If the midnight bell 
Did with his iron tongue and brazen mouth 
Sound one unto the drowsy race of night ; 
If this same were a church-yard where we stand, 
And thou possessed with a thousand wrongs j 
Or if that thou could'st see me without eyes, 
Hear we without thine ears, and make reply 
Without a tongue, using conceit alone, 
Without eyes, ears, and harmful sound of words, 
Then in despite of broad-eyed watchful day 
I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts : 
But, ah ! I will not — yet I love thee well, 
And by my troth, I think thou lov'dst me well. 

Hub. So well, that what you bid me undertake, 
Though that my death were adjunct to my act, 
By heav'n I 'd do 't, 



ELOCUTION. 271 

K. John. Do I not know thou would'st ? 
Good Hubert, Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye 
On that young boy : I'll tell thee what, my friend, 
He is a very serpent in ray way, 
And wheresoe'er this foot of mine doth tread, 
He lies before me. Do'st thou understand me ? 
Thou art his keeper. 

Hub. And I'll keep him so, 
That he shall not offend your majesty. 

K. John. Death. 

Hub. My lord ? 

K. John. A grave. 

Hub. He shall not live. 

K. John. Enough. 
I could be merry now. Hubert, I love thee j 
Well, I'll not say what I intend for thee : 
Remember. Shahspeare's King John, Act iii. Scene 5. 

I have quoted so much of this fine passage, because 
I think almost every part of it affords an opportunity 
of practising to speak with force and energy upon a 
lower tone of the voice ; for the whole scene may be 
considered as only an earnest whisper ; but as this 
whisper must be heard by a whole audience, it is ne- 
cessary, while we lower the pitch, to add to the force 
of the voice ; this, however, is no easy operation, and 
none but good readers and consummate actors, can 
do it perfectly. It is no very difficult matter to be 
loud in a high tone of voice ; but to be loud and for- 
cible in a low tone, requires great practice and ma- 
nagement; this, however, may be facilitated by pro- 
nouncing forcibly at first in a low monotone ; a mo- 
notone, though in a low key, and without force, is 
much more sonorous and audible than when the voice 
slides up and down at almost every word, as it must 
do to be various. This tone is adopted by actors 
when they repeat passages aside. They are to give 
the idea of speaking to themselves, in such a manner 
as not to be heard by the person with them on the 
stage, and yet must necessarily be heard by the whole 
theatre. The monotone in a low key answers both 
these purposes. It conveys the idea of being inau- 
dible to the actors with them in the scene, by being 



272 ELEMENTS OF 

in a lower tone than that used in the dialogue ; and 
by being in a monotone becomes audible to the whole 
house. The monotone, therefore, becomes an excellent 
vehicle for such passages as require force and audi- 
bility in a low tone, and in the hands of a judicious 
reader or speaker is a perpetual source of variety. 

Rule IV. When we would strengthen the voice in 
a higher note, it will be necessary to practise such 
passages as require a high tone of voice ; and if we 
find the voice grow thin, or approach to a squeak 
upon the high note, it will be proper to swell the 
voice a little below this high note, and to give it force 
and audibility by throwing it into a sameness of tone 
approaching the monotone. A speech of Titus 
Quintius to the Roman people, ironically encourag- 
ing them to the greatest excesses^ is a good praxis for 
the higher tone of voice. 

When you are to contend with us, you can seize theAventile hill, 
you can possess yourselves of the Mons Sacer, the enemy is at our 
gates, the iEsquiline is near being taken, and nobody stirs to hinder 
it. But against us you are valiant, against us you can arm with all 
diligence. Come on, then, besiege the Senate-house, make a camp 
of the forum, fill the jails with our chief nobles, and when you have 
achieved these glorious exploits, then at the least, sally out at the 
iEsquiline gate with the same fierce spirits against the enemy. Does 
your resolution fail you for this ? Go then, and behold from our 
walls, your lands ravaged, your houses plundered and in flames, the 
whole country laid waste with fire and sword. Have you any thing 
here to repair these damages ? Will the tribunes^ make up your 
losses to you ? They will give you words as many as you please ; 
bring impeachments in abundance against the prime men of the state ; 
heap laws upon laws; assemblies you shall have without endj but 
will any of you return the richer from these assemblies ? Extinguish, 
O Romans ! these fatal divisions: generously break this cursed en- 
chantment, which keeps you buried in a scandalous inaction. — Open 
your eyes, and consider the management of those ambitious men, 
who, to make themselves powerful in their party, study nothing but 
how they may foment divisions in the commonwealth. 

There are few voices so strong in the upper notes as 
to be able to pronounce this speech with the spirit it 
demands ; care must be taken therefore, particularly 
in the ironical parts, to keep the voice from going too 



ELOCUTION. 273 

high for which purpose it ought to approach to a 
monotone in the high notes required upon the words — 
against us you are valiant — against us you can arm 
with all diligence — and particularly upon the questions 
— Does your resolution fail you for this ? Have you 
any thing here to repair these damages ? Will the 
tribunes make up your losses to you ? And the same 
conduct of the voice must be observed upon the four 
succeeding ironical members. 

But no exercise will be so proper to inure the voice 
to high notes, as frequently to pronounce a succession 
of questions, which require the rising inflexion of 
voice at the end. Such is that instance of a succes- 
sion of questions ending with the rising inflexion, in 
the Oration of Demosthenes on the Crown. See 
p. 140. 



What was the part of a faithful citizen ? Of a prudent, an active 
and honest minister ? Was he not to secure Eubcea, as our defence 
against all attacks by sea ? Was he not to make Boeotia our bar- 
rier on the midland side ? The cities bordering on Peloponnesus, 
our bulwark on that quarter ? Was he not jto attend with due 
precaution to the importation of corn, that this trade might be pro- 
tected through all its progress up to our own harbours ? Was he 
not to cover those districts, which we commanded by seasonable de- 
tachments, as the Proconesus, the Chersonesus, and Tenedos ? To 
exert himself in the assembly for this purpose ? While with equal 
zeal he laboured to gain others to our interest and alliance, as 
Byzantium, Abydus, and Eubcea ? Was he not to cut off the 
best, and most important resources of our enemies, and to supply 
those in which our country was defective ? — And all this you gained 
by my counsels and my administration. 

Lelands Demosthenes on the Crown, 



It will naturally occur to every judicious reader, 
that this series of questions ought to rise gradually 
in force as they proceed, and therefore it will be ne- 
cessary to keep the voice under at the beginning ; 
to which this observation may be added, that as the 
rising inflexion ought to be adopted on each ques- 
tion, the voice will be very apt to get too high near 

T 



274 ELEMENTS OF 

the end ; for which purpose it will be necessary to 
swell the voice a little below its highest pitch ; and 
if we cannot rise with ease and clearness on every 
particular to the last, we ought to augment the force 
on each, that the whole may form a species of 
climax. 



Rule V. When we would strengthen the voice in 
the middle tone, it will be necessary to exercise the 
voice on very passionate speeches by pronouncing 
them in a loud tone, without suffering the voice to 
rise with the force, but preserving all the energy and 
loudness we are able, in the middle tone of voice. 

The challenge of Macbeth to Banquo's ghost, is 
a proper passage for this exercise of the middle tone 
of voice. 

What man dare I dare : 
Approach thou, like the rugged Russian bear, 
The arm'd rhinoceros or Hyrcanian tiger ; 
Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves 
Shall never tremble. Be alive again, 
And dare me to the desert with thy sword ; 
If trembling I inhibit, then protest me 
The baby of a girl. Hence horrible shadow ! 
Unreal mock'ry, hence ! 

Rule VI. When we have exerted the voice to the 
highest pitch, it will be necessary to bring it down to 
a lower, by beginning the succeeding sentence in a 
lower tone of voice, if the nature of the sentence will 
permit ; and if we are speaking extempore, it will be 
proper to form the sentence in such manner as to 
make it naturally require a lower tone. A good 
praxis for recovering the voice when it is carried to 
its utmost pitch is the furious resentment and indig- 
nation of Posthumus against himself for giving credit 
to the infidelity of Imogen. 

Jachimo. This Posthumus — methinks I see him now — 



ELOCUTION. %75 

Pvst. Aye, so thou dost, 
Italian fiend ! ah me, most credulous fool, 
Egregious murderer, thief, any thing, 
That 's due to all the villains past, in being,, 
To come — oh give me cord, or knife, or poison, 
Some upright justicer ! Thou king, send out 
For torturers injenious ; it is I 
That all th' abhorred things o' th' earth amend 
By being worse than they. I am Posthumous 
That kill'd thy daughter - } villain-iike I lie, 
That caus'd a lesser villain than myself, 
A sacrilegious thief to do 't. The temple 
Of virtue was she, yea, and she herself — 
Spit and throw stones, cast mire upon me, set 
The dogs o' th' street to bait me : every villain 
Be call'd Posthumus Leonatus, and 
Be villany less than 'twas. Oh ! Imogen, 
My queen, my life, my wife ! Oh, Imogen, 
Imogen ! Imogen ! 

In this example we find the fury of the passion very 
apt to carry the voice too high,, but the poet has 
very judiciously thrown in breaks and alterations in 
the passion, which give the speaker an opportunity of 
lowering and altering his voice. Thus the voice is at 
its highest pitch of rage at to come, when the break 
and different shade of the same passion, at O give me 
cord, &c. affords an opportunity for lowering the 
voice by means of a mixture of entreaty. The 
voice is at its utmost extent of height at MlVd thy 
daughter ; as in this passage he declares openly his 
guilt, in order to provoke his punishment ; but the 
next clause, villain-like, I lie, gives a different shade 
of force to the voice by a mixture of remorse. The 
next sentence — - The temple of virtue, &c. has a regret 
and tenderness in it that affords an alteration of voice ; 
but as this alteration slides into extreme grief, in 
which the voice is very apt to go too high, the next 
sentence — Spit and throw stones, &c. — by the deep 
hatred it falls into, gives the speaker an opportunity 
of lowering and recovering the force of his voice, in 
order to conclude with that force and tenderness 
which the latter part of the speech necessarily 

t2 



276 ELEMENTS OF 

requires. Thus, by properly distinguishing the dif- 
ferent shades and mixtures of the passions, we not 
only produce variety, but afford the voice such 
resources of energy, as can alone support it in the 
pronunciation. 

Rule VII. When we are speaking extempore, and 
have carried the voice to its utmost extent in a high 
key, in order to bring it down to a lower, we ought, 
if possible, to adopt some passion which requires a 
low key ; such as shame, hatred, admonition, &c. as 
in the spirited speech of T. Quintius to the Roman 
people quoted under Rule IV. 

The same may be observed of the speech of the 
angel in Milton to Satan. 

Think we such toils, such cares disturb the peace 
Of heav'rTs blest habitants ? — alike 1 scorn 
Thy person, and imposture. „ Milton. 

The former part of this speech raises the voice to 
the highest pitch, and is finely relieved and con- 
trasted by the low tone which scorn requires in the 
conclusion, 



ELOCUTION, 277 



Gesture. 



Gesture considered as a just and elegant adapta- 
tion of every part of the body to the nature and im- 
port of the subject we are pronouncing, has always 
been considered as one of the most essential parts of 
oratory. Its power, as Cicero observes^ is much 
greater than that of words. It is the language of 
nature in the strictest sense, and makes its way to 
the heart, without the utterance of a single sound. 
Ancient and modern orators are full of the power of 
action ; and action, as with the illustrious Grecian 
orator, seems to form the beginning, the middle, and 
end of oratory. 

Such, however, is the force of custom, that though 
we all confess the power and necessity of this branch 
of public speaking, we find few, in our own country 
at least, that are hardy enough to put it in practice. 
The most accomplished speakers in the British senate 
are very faulty in their use of action, and it is remark- 
able that those who are excellent in every other part 
of oratory are very deficient in this. The truth is, 
though the reason of action in speaking is in the na- 
ture of things, the difficulty of acquiring the other 
requisites of an orator, and the still greater difficulty 
of attaining excellence in action (which after all our 
pains is less esteemed than excellences of another 
kind) ; these, I say, seem to be the reasons why action 
is so little cultivated among us : to this we may add, 
that so different are national tastes in this particular, 
that hardly any two people agree in the just propor- 
tion of this so celebrated quality of an orator. Per- 
haps the finished action of a Cicero or a Demosthenes 
would scarcely be borne in our times, though accom- 



#7& ELEMENTS OF 

panied with every other excellence. The Italians 
and French, though generally esteemed better public 
speakers than the English, appear to us to over- 
charge their oratory with action ; and some of their 
finest strokes of action would, perhaps, excite our 
laughter. The oratory, therefore, of the Greeks and 
Romans in this point, is as ill suited to a British audi- 
tor, as the accent and quantity of the ancients is to 
the English language. The common feelings of 
nature, with the signs that express them, undergo a 
kind of modification, which is suitable to the taste 
and genius of every nation ; and it is this national 
taste which must necessarily be the vehicle of every- 
thing we convey agreeably to the public we belong 
to. Whether the action of the ancients was exces- 
sive, or whether that of the English be not too scanty, 
is not the question : those who would succeed as 
English orators must speak to English taste ; as a 
general must learn the modern exercise of arms to 
command modern armies, and not the discipline and 
weapons of the ancients. 

But though the oratory of the moderns does not 
require all those various evolutions of gesture which 
was almost indispensable in the ancients, yet a cer- 
tain degree of it must necessarily enter into the com- 
position of every good speaker and reader. To be 
perfectly motionless while we are pronouncing words 
which require force and energy, is not only depriving 
them of their necessary support, but rendering them 
unnatural and ridiculous. A very vehement address, 
pronounced without any motion but that of the lips 
and tongue, would be a burlesque upon the meaning, 
and produce laughter j nay, so unnatural is this total 
absence of gesticulation, that it is not very easy to 
speak in this manner. 

As some action, therefore, must necessarily accom- 
pany our words, it is of the utmost consequence, that 
this be such as is suitable and natural. No matter how 
little, if it be but akin to the words and passion ; for 



ELOCUTION. %79 

if foreign to them, it counteracts and destroys the 
very intention of delivery. The voice and gesture 
may be said to be tuned to each other : and if they 
are in a different key, as it may be called, discord 
must inevitably be the consequence. An awkward 
action, and such as is unsuitable to the words and 
passion, is the body out of tune, and gives the eye as 
much pain as discord does the ear, 

In order therefore to gain a just idea of suitable 
action and expression, it will be necessary to observe 
that every passion, emotion, and sentiment, has a par- 
ticular attitude of the body, cast of the eye, and tone 
of the voice, that particularly belongs to that passion, 
emotion, or sentiment : these should be carefully 
studied, and practised before a glass when we are 
alone ; and before a few friends, whose candour and 
judgment we can rely on. Some good piece of com- 
position should then be selected, and every period or 
sentence be marked with that passion, emotion, or 
sentiment, indicated by the words, that the eye in 
reading may be reminded of the passion or sentiment 
to be assumed. These passions and emotions we 
should express with the utmost force and energy we 
are able, when we are alone, that we may wear our- 
selves into the habits of assuming them easily in pub- 
lic. This forcible practice in private, will have the 
same effect on our public delivery, that dancing a 
minuet has on our general air and deportment. What 
Pope says of writing is perfectly applicable to action 
in oratory. 

True ease in action comes from art, not chance, 
As those move easiest who have learned to dance. 

To descend, however, to a few of those particulars, 
to which it seems the most necessary to attend ; it 
may not be improper to take notice, that in read- 
ing much less action is required than in speaking. 
When we read to a few persons only in private, it 



280 ELEMENTS OF 

may not be useless to observe, that we should accuse 
torn ourselves to read standing; that the book should 
be held in the left hand ; that we should take our 
eyes as often as possible from the book, and direct 
them to those that hear us. The three or four last 
words, at least of every paragraph, or branch of a 
subject, should be pronounced with the eye pointed 
to one of the auditors. When any thing sublime, 
lofty, or heavenly, is expressed, the eye and the right 
hand may be very properly elevated ;, and w T hen any 
thing low, inferior, or grovelling is referred to, the 
eye and hand may be directed downwards ; when 
any thing distant or extensive is mentioned, the hand 
may naturally describe the distance or extent ; and 
when conscious virtue, or any heartfelt emotion, or 
tender sentiment occurs, we may as naturally clap 
the right hand on the breast exactly over her heart. 

In speaking extempore, we should be sparing of 
the use of the left hand, which may not ungracefully 
hang down by the side, and be suffered to receive that 
small degree of motion which will necessarily be com- 
municated to it by the action of the right hand. The 
right hand, when in action, ought to rise extending 
from the side, that is, in a direction from left to right; 
and then be propelled forwards, with the fingers 
open, and easily and differently curved : the arm 
should move chiefly from the elbow, the hand seldom 
be raised higher than the shoulder, and when it has 
described its object, or enforced its emphasis, ought 
to drop lifeless down to the side, ready to commence 
action afresh. The utmost care must be taken to 
keep the elbow from inclining to the body, and to 
let the arms, when not hanging at rest by the side, 
approach to the action we call a-kimbow ; we must 
be cautious too, in all action but such as describes 
extent or circumference, to keep the hand, or lower 
part of the arm, from cutting the perpendicular line 
that divides the body into right and left ; but above 
all, we must be careful to let the stroke of the hand 



JELOCUflON. 281 

which marks force, or emphasis, keep exact time 
with the force of pronunciation ; that is, the hand 
must go down upon the emphatical word, and no 
other: thus in the execration of Brutus, in Julius 
Caesar: 

When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous j 
To lock such rascal-counters from his friends. 
Be ready gods with all your thunderbolts — 
Dash him in pieces. 

Here the action of the arm which enforces the em- 
phasis ought to be so directed, that the stroke of the 
hand may be given exactly on the word dash ; this 
will give a concomitant action to the organs of pro- 
nunciation, and by this means the whole expression 
will be greatly augmented. This action may be 
called beating time to the emphasis, and is as neces- 
sary in forcible and harmonious speaking, as the 
agreement between the motion of the feet, and the 
music in dancing.* 

These are some of the simplest and most necessary 
directions, and such as may be followed with the 
greatest safety : observing the action of the best 
readers and speakers may, with some cautions, be 
recommended to youth; but cannot with the same 
safety be proposed to those who, by long practice, 
are confirmed in habits of their own ; it may, instead 
of a modest and negative kind of awkwardness, which 
is scarcely offensive, substitute a real and disgusting 
kind of mimickry ; and this, by every person of the 
least taste, will be looked upon as a bad exchange. 

To the generality of readers and speakers, therefore., 
it may be proposed to make use of no more action 
than they can help. If they are really in earnest, as 

* For a simple outline of action, as it may be called, it is presumed 
the Elements of Gesture, prefixed to the Academic Speaker, wHl be 
found highly useful ; as the directions there given are illustrated by 
plates describing the several positions of the body, legs, arms, and 
hands, in a graceful and forcible delivery. 



282 ELEMENTS OF 

they ought to be, some gesticulation will naturally 
break out ; and if it be kept within bounds, it will 
always be tolerable. A man's own feelings will often 
tell him how far he may venture with safety; for in 
that situation which he finds the easiest to himself, 
he will appear most agreeable to his auditory. Such a 
sympathy do we find between speaker and hearer, 
that the one cannot be in an awkward situation 
without communicating a feeling of it to the other. 

Thus have we endeavoured to delineate those out- 
lines, which nothing but good sense and taste will fill 
up. The more distinctly these lines are marked, the 
easier will be the finishing; and if, instead of leaving 
so much to taste, as is generally done, we were to 
push as far as possible our inquiries into those princi- 
ples of truth and beauty, in delivery, which are im- 
mutable and eternal ; if, I say, we were to mark care- 
fully the seemingly infinite variety of voice and 
gesture in speaking and reading, and compare this 
variety with the various senses and passions of which 
they are expressive ; from the simplicity of nature in 
her other operations, we have reason to hope, that they 
might be so classed and arranged, as to be of much 
easier attainment, and productive of much certainty 
and improvement, in the very difficult acquisition of 
a just and agreeable delivery. 



ELOCUTION. 283 



The Passions. 



It now remains to say something of those tones 
which mark the passions and emotions of the speaker. 
These are entirely independent on the modulation of 
the voice, though often confounded with it : for mo- 
dulation relates only to speaking either loudly or 
softly, in a high or low key; while the tones of the 
passions or emotions mean only that quality of sound 
that indicates the feelings of the speaker, without 
any reference to the pitch or loudness of his voice ; 
and it is in being easily susceptible of every passion 
and emotion that presents itself, and being able to 
express them with that peculiar quality of sound 
which belongs to them, that the great art of reading 
and speaking consists. When we speak our own 
words, and are really impassioned by the occasion of 
speaking, the passion or emotion precedes the words, 
and adopts such tones as are suitable to the passion 
we feel ; but when we read or repeat from memory, 
the passion is to be taken up as the words occur : 
and in doing this well, the whole difficulty of reading 
or repeating from memory lies. 

But it will be demanded, how are we to acquire 
that peculiar quality of sound that indicates the pas- 
sion we wish to express ? The answer is easy : by 
feeling the passion which expresses itself by that pe- 
culiar quality of sound. But the question will return, 
how are we to acquire a feeling of the passion ? The 
answer to this question is rather discouraging, as it will 
advise those who have not the power of impassioning 
themselves upon reading or expressing some very pa- 
thetic passage, to turn their studies to some other 



284 ELEMENTS OF 

department of learning, where nature may have been 
more favourable to their wishes. But is there no 
method of assisting us in acquiring the tone of the 
passion we want to express ; no method of exciting 
the passion in ourselves when we wish to express it to 
others ? The advice of Quintilian and Cicero on this 
occasion, is, to represent to our imagination, in the 
most lively manner possible, all the most striking cir- 
cumstances of the transaction we describe, or of the 
passion we wish to feel. " Thus," says (Quintilian, 
" if I complain of the fate of a man who has been 
" assassinated, may I not paint in my mind a lively 
" picture of all that has probably happened on the 
" occasion ? Shall not the assassin appear to rush 
" forth suddenly from his lurking place ? Shall not 
"the other appear seized with horrors? Shall he 
" not cry out, beg his life, or fly to save it ? Shall 
" not I see the assassin deal the deadly blow, and 
" the defenceless wretch falling dead at his feet? 
" Shall not I figure to my mind, and by a lively im- 
" pression, the blood gushing from his wounds, his 
" ghastly face, his groans, and the last gasp he 
" fetches ?" 

This must be allowed to be a very natural method 
of exciting an emotion in the mind ; but still the woes 
of others, whether real or fictitious, will often make 
but a weak impression on our own mind, and will 
fail of affecting uswith a sufficient force to excite the 
same emotions in the minds of our hearers. In this 
exigence, it may not, perhaps, be unprofitable, to call 
to our assistance the device of the ancient Grecian 
actor Polus ; who, when he had the part of Electra 
to perform, and was to represent that princess weep- 
ing over the ashes of her brother Orestes, ordered the 
urn which contained the ashes of his dear and only 
son to be brought upon the stage, and by this means . 
excited in himself the pitch of grief with which he 
wished to affect his audience. 

Calling to mind, therefore, such passages of our 



ELOCUTION 285 

own life as are similar to those we read or speak of, 
will, if I am not mistaken, considerably assist us in 
gaining that fervor and warmth of expression, which, 
by a certain sympathy, is sure to affect those who 
hear us. 

But our natural feelings are not always to be com- 
manded ; and, when they are, stand in need of the 
regulation and embellishment of art ; it is the busi- 
ness, therefore, of every reader and speaker in public, 
to acquire such tones and gestures as nature gives to 
the passions ; that he may be able to produce the sem- 
blance of them when he is not actually impassioned. 
The feelings of men, when unpremeditatedly impas- 
sioned, will do wonders. We seldom hear a person 
express love, rage, or pity, when these passions are 
produced by a powerful object on the spot, without 
feeling in ourselves the working of the passions thus 
instantaneously produced. Here the reality of the 
situation contributes greatly to our own feelings, as 
well as to the feelings of the speaker. The speech of 
a malefactor seldom fails to move us powerfully, how- 
ever wretchedly delivered ; and a person really in 
the agonies of passion moves us irresistibly. But 
these are situations very different from the reader and 
speaker in public. The reader has always a fictitious 
or absent passion to exhibit ; and the public speaker 
must always produce his passion at a certain time and 
place, and in a certain order; and in this situation it 
is generally supposed by our best critics, that an ex- 
cess of feeling, such as we have when unpremeditat- 
edly actuated by strong passions, would render us 
incapable of expressing ourselves, so as properly to 
affect others. I have myself seen Powel, in the cha- 
racter of George Barnwell, so overwhelmed with 
grief in that pathetic address, 

Be warn'd, ye youths, who see my sad despair, &e. 

as to be incapable of expressing himself in the most 
pathetic manner to the audience. However this be. 



286 ELEMENTS OP 

certain it is, we ought to study the effects and ap- 
pearances of the passions, that we may be able to 
exhibit them when we are not really impassioned : 
and, when we are, to give passion its most agreeable 
expression. Mr. Burke has a very ingenious thought 
on this subject in his Origin of our Ideas of the Sub- 
lime and Beautiful. He observes that there is such a 
connexion between the internal feeling of a passion, 
and the external expression of it, that we cannot put 
ourselves in the posture or attitude of any passion, 
without communicating a certain degree of the pas- 
sion itself to the mind. The same may be observed 
of the tone of voice which is peculiar to each passion: 
each passion produces an agitation of the body, 
which is accompanied by a correspondent agitation 
of the mind : certain sounds naturally produce cer- 
tain bodily agitations, similar to those produced by 
the passions ; and hence music has power over the 
mind, and can dispose it alternately to joy, or sor- 
row : to pity, or revenge. When the voice, therefore, 
assumes that tone which a musician would produce, 
in order to express certain passions or sentiments in a 
song, — the speaker, like a performer on a musical 
instrument, is wrought upon by the sound he creates; 
and, though active at the beginning, at length be- 
comes passive, by the sound of his own voice on 
himself. Hence jt is, that though we frequently 
begin to read or speak, without feeling any of the 
passion we wish to express, we often end in full 
possession of it. This may serve to show the neces- 
sity of studying and imitating those tones, looks, and 
gestures, that accompany the passions, that we may 
dispose ourselves to feel them mechanically, and im- 
prove our expression of them when we feel them 
spontaneously; for by the imitation of the passion, 
we meet it, as it were, half way. 

A passion well described disposes us to the feeling 
of it, and greatly assists us in expressing it with force 
and propriety ; this shows the necessity of a good 



ELOCUTION. 287 

description of the passions, and how much the art of 
speaking depends upon it. Those who feel the pas- 
sions the most powerfully, and unite with this feeling 
a power of describing their feelings, are those from 
whom we may expect the best pictures of what 
passes in the soul. For this reason, good poets are 
generally the best painters of the passions ; and for 
this reason too, we find the greatest orators have 
been most conversant with the best poets ; for though 
it is not the business of the poet, like that of the 
philosopher, to enter into a logical definition of the 
origin, extent, and various relations of the passion he 
produces, he must, however, feel it strongly, and 
express it exactly as we see it in nature, or it will fail 
in its effect on the soul ; which, in this case, judges 
by a sort of instinct. This, it is presumed, will be a 
sufficient reason for drawing the examples that are 
given of the passions chiefly from the poets ; and of 
these, chiefly those in the dramatic line; as it is in 
these that the passions are generally the most deli- 
cately and forcibly touched. 

Aaron Hill, in his Essay on the Art of Acting, has 
made a bold attempt at such a description of the pas- 
sions as may enable an actor to adopt them mecha- 
nically, by showing, that all the passions require 
either a braced or relaxed state of the sinews, and a 
peculiar cast of the eye. This system he has sup- 
ported with much ingenuity ; but it were to be 
wished he had lived to give his original idea the 
finishing he intended, and to have seen it combated 
by opposite opinions, that he might have removed 
several objections that lie against it, and render the 
truth of it doubtful. It must be owned, however, 
that this writer deserves great praise for the mere 
attempt he has made to form a new system, which, 
under some restrictions, may not be without its use, 
It is certain, that all the passions, when violent, brace 
the sinews ; grief, which, when moderate, may be 



288 ELEMENTS OF 

said to melt or relax the frame, when accompanied 
by anguish and bitter complainings, becomes active 
and bracing.* Pity seems never to rise to a suffix 
cient degree of sorrow to brace the sinews ; and 
anger, even the slightest degree, seems to give a 
kind of tension to the voice and limbs. Thus Shak- 
speare, as quoted by this writer, has given us an 
admirable picture of this passion in its violence, and 
has made this violent tension of the sinews a con~ 
siderable part of its composition : 

Now imitate the action of the tiger ! 
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood ! 
Lend fierce and dreadful aspect to the eye ; 
Set the teeth close, and stretch the nostril wide ; 
Hold hard the breath, and bend up ev'ry spirit 
To its full height. — — 

To this may be added that admirable picture of vio- 
lent anger which Shakspeare puts in the mouth of 
Suffolk, in the Second Part of Henry VI. 

Would curses kill, as does the mandrake's groan, 
I would invent as bitter searching terms, 
As curst, as harsh, and horrible to hear, 
Delivered strongly through my fixed teeth, 
With full as many signs of deadly hate 
As lean-fac'd Envy in her loathsome cave. 
My tongue should stumble in mine earnest words, 
Mine eyes should sparkle like the beaten flint, 
Mine hair be fixt an end like one distract, 
Aye, ev'ry joint should seem to curse and ban : 
And, even now my burden'd heart would break, 
Should I not curse them. 

* See Dr. Johnson's excellent remark upon the" speech of Lady 
Constance in King John. Act iii. sc. 1 , 



ELOCUTiOxV, 289 

Who can read these admirable descriptions of anger 
without finding his whole frame braced, and his mind 
strongly tinctured with the passion delineated ! How 
much is it to be regretted that so great a master of 
the passions as Shakspeare, has not left us a descrip- 
tion similar to this of every emotion of the soul ! But 
though he has not described every other passion like 
this, he has placed them all in such marking points 
of view, as enables us to see the workings of the hu- 
man heart from his writings, in a clearer and more 
affecting way than in any other of our poets ; and ? 
perhaps, the best description that could be given us of 
the passions in any language, may be extracted from 
the epithets he has made use of. But to return to 
the system : Hill defines scorn to be negligent anger, 
and adds, " it is expressed by the languid muscles, 
" with a smile upon the eye in the light species, or a 
" frown to hit the serious." The reason he gives for 
this expression is, " because scorn insinuates, by a 
" voluntary slackness, or disarming of the nerves, a 
'* known or a concluded absence of all power in the 
" insulted object, even to make defence seem ne- 
"cessary." This seems a very accurate picture of 
the passion, and the slackness of the nerves appears 
necessarily to enter into the proper method of ex- 
pressing it. But what are we to think of his defini- 
tion of joy ? i( Joy," says he, " is pride possessed of 
" triumph." No author I have ever yet met with, 
has supposed pride to be a necessary part of the 
composition of joy; though a degree of joy may 
form part of the composition of pride. Pity, he de- 
fines to be active grief for another's afflictions ; but 
this definition seems not to include the most lead- 
ing trait of pity, which is, benevolence and love ; 
and though pity is always accompanied with a 
degree of sorrow which often excites us to assist 
those we pity, yet pity is often bestowed on objects 
we neither can nor endeavour to assist. The poets 
have always strongly marked this alliance between 

u 



290 ELEMENTS OF 

pity and love, and with great propriety. When 
Blandford tells Oroonoko he pities him, Oroonoko 
answers, 

Do pity me j 
Pity 's akin to love, and every thought 
Of that soft kind is welcome to my soul. 

Oroonoko, Act ii. 

And Dryden, in his Alexander's Feast, after describ- 
ing the power of Timotheus in exciting his hero's 
pity for the sad fate of Darius, says, 

The mighty master smil'd to see, 
That love was in the next degree ; 
'Twas but a kindred sound to move, 
For pity melts the soul to love. 

And Julia, in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, says of 
Proteus, 

Because he loves her he despises me ; 

Because I love him, I must pity him. Act iv. 

Poets, who, where the passions are concerned, are 
generally the best philosophers, constantly describe 
love and pity as melting the soul : but how does this 
agree with the intense muscles with which Hill marks 
the expression of both these passions ? And how, 
according to this writer, can the muscles be intense 
and the eye languid at the same time, as he has de- 
scribed them in pity ; Or is it conceivable that the 
eye can express an emotion directly contrary to the 
feelings of the whole frame ? The distinction, there- 
fore, of braced and unbraced muscles, upon which 
his whole system turns, seems at best but a doubtful 
hypothesis ; and much too hidden and uncertain for 
the direction of so important a matter as the expres- 
sion of the passions. 

In the display of the passions which I have adopted, 
nothing farther is intended, than such a description of 
them as may serve to give an idea of their external 



ELOCUTION. 291 

appearance, and such examples of their operations 
on the soul as may tend to awaken an original feeling 
of them in the breast of the reader. But it cannot 
be too carefully noted, that, if possible, the expression 
of every passion ought to commence within. The 
imagination ought to be strongly impressed with the 
idea of an object which naturally excites it, before 
the body is brought to correspond to it by suitable 
gesture. This order ought never to be reversed, ex- 
cept when the mind is too cold and languid to imbibe 
the passion first ; and in this case, an adaptation of 
the body to an expression of the passion, will either 
help to excite the passion we wish to feel, or in some 
measure supply the absence of it. 

The two circumstances that most strongly mark the 
expression of passion, are the tone of the voice and 
the external appearance of countenance and gesture ; 
these we shall endeavour to describe, and to each 
description subjoin an example for practice. 

In the following explanation and description of 
the passions, I have been greatly indebted to a very 
ingenious performance called the Art of Speaking ; 
this work, though not without its imperfections, is 
on a plan the most useful that has hitherto been 
adopted. The passions are first described, then pas- 
sages are produced which contain the several pas- 
sions, and these passions are marked in the margin, 
as they promiscuously occur in the passage. This 
plan I have adopted, and I hope not without some 
degree of improvement. For after the description of 
the several passions, in which I have frequently de- 
parted widely from this author, I have subjoined 
examples to each passion and emotion, which contain 
scarcely any passion or emotion but that described ; 
and by thus keeping one passion in view at a time, it 
is presumed the pupil will more easily acquire the 
imitation of it, than by passing suddenly to those 
passages where they are scattered promiscuously in 
small portions. But though this association of the 

v c 2 



292 ELEMENTS OF 

similar passions has certainly an advantage, the great- 
est merit is do to the author above mentioned ; who, 
by the division of a passage into its several passions* 
and marking these passions as they occur, has done 
real service to the art of speaking, and rendered his 
book one of the most useful that has been hitherto 
published. 



ELOCUTION. 293 



THE PASSIONS. 

The first picture of the passions (if it may be called 
so) is 

TRANQUILLITY. 

Tranquillity appears by the composure of the coun- 
tenance and general repose of the whole body, without 
the exertion of any one muscle. The countenance 
open, the forehead smooth, the eye-brows arched, the 
mouth just not shut, and the eyes passing with an 
easy motion from object to object, but not dwelling 
long upon any one. To distinguish it, however, from 
insensibility, it seems necessary to give it that cast of 
happiness which borders on cheerfulness. 

CHEERFULNESS. 

When joy is settled into a habit, or flows from a 
placid temper of mind, desiring to please and be pleas- 
ed, it is called gaiety, good- humour, or cheerfulness. 

Cheerfulness adds a smile to tranquillity, and opens 
the mouth a little more. 

Cheerfulness in Retirement. 

Now my co-mates, and brother's in exile, 
Hath not old custom made this life more sweet 
Than that of painted pomp ? Are not these woods 
More free from peril than the envious court ? 
Here feel we but the penalty of Adam 
The season's difference j as the icy fang 
And churlish chiding of the winter's wind, 
Which, when it bites and blows upon my body 
Ev'n till I shrink with cold, I smile and say, 
This is no flattery j these are counsellors 
That feelingly persuade me what I am. 
Sweet are the uses of adversity 5 
Which like the toad, ugly and venomous, 
Wears yet a precious jewel in its head -, 



294 ELEMENTS OF 

And this our life, exempt from public haunts, 
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing. 

Shakspeares As you Like It. 



MIRTH. 

When joy arises from ludicrous-and fugitive amuse- 
ments in which others share with us, it is called mer- 
riment, or mirth. 

Mirth, or laughter, opens the mouth horizontally, 
raises the cheeks high, lessens the aperture of the 
eyes, and, when violent, shakes and convulses the 
whole frame, fills the eyes with tears, and occasions 
holding the sides from the pain the convulsive laugh- 
ter gives them. 

Invocation of the Goddess of Mirth. 

But come, thou goddess, fair and free, 
Jn heav'n yclep'd Euphrosyne, 
And by men, heart-easing Mirth 5 
Whom lovely Venus at a birth, 
With two sister graces more, 
To ivy-crowned Bacchus bore. 
Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee 
Mirth and youthful Jollity : 
Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles ; 
Nods and becks, and wreathed smiles ; 
Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, 
And love to live in dimples sleek : 
Sport that wrinkled Care derides, 
And Laughter holding both his sides : 
Come and trip it as ye go, 
On the light fantastic toe ; 
And in thy right hand bring with thee 
The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty. Milton's Comus. 

Laughter on seeing a shrewd Buffoon. 

A fool ! — a fool, I met a fool i' th' forest, 

A motley fool } — a miserable varlet ! — 

As I do live by food, I met a fool ; — 

Who laid him down and bask'd him in the sun, 

And rail'd on lady Fortune in good terms 5 



ELOCUTION. 295 

In good set terms, — and yet a motley fool ; 

Good morrow, fool, quoth I ; No, sir, quoth he, 

Call me not fool, till heav'n hath sent me fortune 5 

And then he drew a diaHrom his poke, 

And looking on it with lack-lustre eye, 

Says very wisely, It is ten o'clock j 

Thus may we see, quoth he, how the world wags j 

'Tis but an hour ago since it was nine, 

And after one hour more 'twill be eleven 5 

And so from hour to hour we ripe and ripe* 

And then from hour to hour we rot and rot, 

And thereby hangs a tale. When I did hear 

The motley fool thus moral on the time, 

My lungs began to crow like chanticleer, 

That fools should be so deep contemplative : 

And I did laugh sans intermission, 

An hour by his dial. O noble fool I 

A worthy fool ! Motley's the only wear. 

Shakspeare's As You Like It. 



RAILLERY. 

Raillery without animosity puts on the aspect of 
cheerfulness ; the countenance smiling, and the tone 
of voice sprightly. 

Rallying a Person for being Melancholy. 

Let me play the fool 
With mirth and laughter ; so let wrinkles come, 
And let my liver rather heat with wine, 
Than my heart, cool with mortifying groans. 
Why should a man, whose blood is warm within, 
Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster ? 
Sleep when he wakes, and creep into the jaundice 
By being peevish ? I tell thee what, Anthonio 
(1 love thee, and it is my love that speaks), 
There are are a sort of men whose visages 
Do cream and mantle like a standing pond, 
And do a wilful stillness entertain, 
With purpose to be drest in an opinion 
Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit, 
As who should say, I am, sir Oracle, 
And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark ! 
I'll tell thee more of this another time j 
But fish not with this melancholy bait 



296 ELEMENTS OF 

For this fool's gudgeon, this opinion. 
Come,-good Lorenzo, fare ye well a while, 
I'll end my exhortation after dinner. 



SNEER. 

Sneer is ironical approbation ; where, with a voice 
and countenance of mirth somewhat exaggerated, we 
cast the severest censures ; it is hypocritical mirth v 
and good humour, and differs from the real by the sly, 
arch, satirical tone of voice, look, and gesture, that 
accompany it. 

Scoffing at supposed Cowardice. 

Satan beheld their plight, 
And to his mates thus in derision call'd : 
O friends, why come not on those victors proud ? 
Ere while they fierce were coming and when we, 
To entertain them fair with open front 
And breast (what could we more ?), propounded terms 
Of composition, straight they chang'd their minds, 
Flew off, and into strange vagaries fell, 
As they would dance : yet for a dance they seem'd 
Somewhat extravagant and wild, perhaps 
For joy of offer'd peace j but I suppose, 
If our proposals once again were heard, 
We should compel them to a quick result. 

Milton's Paradise Lost. 



JOY. 

A pleasing elation of mind, on the actual or assured 
attainment of good, or deliverance from evil, is called 
Joy. 

Joy, when moderate, opens the countenance with 
smiles, and throws, as it were, a sunshine of delecta- 
tion over the whole frame : when it is sudden and 
violent, it expresses itself by clapping the hands, rais- 
ing the eyes towards heaven, and giving such a spring 
to the body as to make it attempt to mount up as if 



s. 



ELOCUTION. 297 

it could fly : when joy is extreme, and goes into 
transport, rapture, and ecstasy, it has a wildness of 
look and gesture that borders on folly, madness, and 

sorrow. 

Joy expected. 

Ah ! Juliet, if the measure of thy joy 
Be heap'd like mine, and that thy skill be more 
To blazon it, than sweeten with thy breath 
This neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue 
Unfold the imagin'd happiness that both 
Receive in either by this dear encounter. 

Shakspeare's Rom. and Jul. 

Joy approaching to Transport. 

Oh ! joy, thou welcome stranger, twice three years 

I have not felt thy vital beam, but now 

It warms my veins, and plays about my heart 5 

A fiery instinct lifts me from the ground, 

And I could mount. Dr. Young's Revenge. 

Joy approaching to Folly. 

Come, let us to the castle ; 

News, friends ; our wars are done, the Turks are drown'd ; 

How do our old acquaintance of this isle ? — 

Honey, you shall be well desir'd in Cyprus j 

I have found great love among them. O my sweet, 

I prattle out of fashion, and I dote 

in mine own comforts. ShaJcspeare's Othello, 

Joy bordering on Sorrow. 

O my soul's joy ! 
If after every tempest comes such calms, 
May the winds blow till they have waken'd death ! 
And let the labouring bark climb hills of seas 
Olympus high, and duck again as low 
As hell 's from heav'n ! If it were now to die, 
'Twere now to be most happy, for I fear 
My soul hath her content so absolute, 
That not another comfort like to this 
Succeeds in unknown fate. Ibidem. 

Joy, or Satisfaction inexpressible. 

Imoinda, Oh ! this separation, 

Has made you dearer if it can be so, 



298 ELEMENTS OF 

Than you were ever to me : you appear 
Like a kind star to my benighted steps, 
To guide me on my way to happiness -, 
I cannot miss it now. Governor, friend, 
You think me mad : but let me bless you all 
Who any ways have been the instruments 
Of finding her again. Jmoinda's found ! 
And every thing that I would have in her. 
I have a thousand things to ask of her, 
And she has many more to know of me, 
But you have made me happier, I confess, 
Acknowledge it much happier, than I 
Have words or power to tell you. Captain, you, 
Ev'n you, who most have wrong'd me, I forgive : 
I will not say you have betrayed me now, 
I '11 think you but the minister of fate 
To bring me to my lov'd Imoinda here. 
Let the fools 

Who follow fortune live upon her smiles, 
All our prosperity is plac'd in love, 
We have enough of that to make us happy ; 
This little spot of earth you stand upon, 
Is more to me than the extended plains 
Of my great father's kingdom ; here I reign 
In full delight, in joys to pow'r unknown, 
Your love my empire, and your heart my throne. 

Southerns Oroonoko. 



DELIGHT. 

Delight is a high degree of satisfaction, or rather is 
joy moderated, and affording leizure to dwell on the 
pleasing object ; the tones, looks, and gestures, are 
the same as those of joy, but less forcible, and more 
permanent. Thus we gaze upon a pleasing figure or 
picture, listen to music, and are intent upon delight- 
ful studies. 

Delight on viewing a Statue. 

Leon. See, my lord, 

Would you not deem it breath'd, and that those veins 
Did verily bear blood ? 

Paul. My lord's almost so far transported that 
He '11 think anon it lives. 

Leon. O sweet Paulina, 



ELOCUTION. 299 

Make me to think so twenty year9 together, 

No settled senses of the world can match 

The pleasure of that madness. Shaksp. Winter's Tale. 



LOVE. 

Love is not ill defined by Aaron Hill, when he 
calls it, desire kept temperate by reverence ; it is, he 
says, a conscious and triumphant swell of hope, inti- 
midated by respectful apprehension of offending, where 
we long to seem agreeable : it is complaint made 
amiable by gracefulness ; reproach endeared by ten- 
derness ; and rapture awed by reverence ; the idea 
then, says he, to be conceived by one who would ex- 
press love elegantly, is that of joy combined with fear. 

To this we may add Shakspeare's description of this 
passion in As You Like It. 

Phoebe. Good shepherd, tell this youth what 'tis to love. 

Syl. It is to be all made of phantasy ; 
All made of passion, and all made of wishes j 
All adoration, duty, and observance -, 
All humbleness, all patience, and impatience ; 
All purity, all trial, all observance. As You Like It. 

If these are just descriptions of love, how unlike toit 
is that passion which so profanely assumes its name ! 

Love gives a soft serenity to the countenance, a 
languishing to the eyes, a sweetness to the voice, and 
a tenderness to the whole frame ; when entreating, it 
clasps the hands with intermingled fingers, to the 
breast ; when declaring, the right hand, open, is pressed 
with force upon the breast exactly over the heart ; it 
makes its approaches with the utmost delicacy, and 
is attended with trembling hesitation and confusion. 



Love described. 

Come hither, boy ; if ever thou shalt love, 
In the sweet pangs of it remember me : 



300 . ELEMENTS OF 

For such as I am, all true lovers are j 

Unstaid and skittish in all motions else, 

Save in the constant image of the creature 

That is belov'd. Shakspeares Twelfth Night. 

Description of languishing Love, 

O fellow, come, the song we had last night ; — 
Mark it, Cesario ; it is old and plain ; 
The spinsters, and the knitters in the sun, 
And the free maids that weave their thread with bones, 
Do use to chaunt it ; it is silly sooth, 
And dallies with the innocence of love 
Like to old age. Ibid. 

If music be the food of love, play on ; 
Give me excess of it j that, surfeiting, 
The appetite may sicken, and so die. — 
That strain again \ — it had a dying fall ; 
0, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south, 
That breathes upon a bank of violets, 
Stealing and giving odour. — Enough, no more, 
'Tis not so sweet now, as it was before. 

spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou ! 
That notwithstanding thy capacity 
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there, 

Of what validity and pitch soever, 

But falls into abatement and low price, 

Even in a minute \ so full of shapes is fancy, 

That it alone is high fantastical. Ibid. 

Delight in Love. 

What you do 
Still betters what is done. When you speak, sweet, 

1 'd have you do it ever : when you sing, 

I 'd have you buy and sell so j so give alms, 

Pray so ; and, for the ordering your affairs, 

To sing them too : When you do dance, I wish you 

A wave o' the sea, that you might ever do 

Nothing but that ; move still, still so, 

And own no other function : each your doing, 

So singular in each particular, 

Crowns what you are doing in the present deeds, 

That all your acts are queens. Ibid. Winters Tale. 

Protestations in Love. 



O, hear me breathe my life 



Before this ancient sir, who, it should seem, 



ELOCUTION. 301 

Hath some time lov'd : I take thy hand; this hand, 
As soft as dove's down, and as white as it j 
Or Ethiopian's tooth, or the fann'd snow, 
That 's bolted by the northern blasts twice o'er. 

Shakspeare's Winter's Tale. 

Love complaining. 

Ay, Proteus, but that life is alter'd now ; 
I have done penance for contemning love, 
Whose high imperious thoughts have punish'd me, 
With bitter fasts, with penitential groans, 
With nightly tears, and daily heart-sore sighs : ( r 

For in revenge of my contempt of love, 
Love hath chas'd sleep from my enthralled eyes, 
And made them watchers of mine own heart's sorrow, 
O gentle Proteus, love 's a mighty lord, 
And hath so humbled me, as I confess 
There is no woe to his correction ; 
Nor to his service no such joy on earth ; 
Now no discourse except it be of love ; 
Now can I break my fast, dine, sup, and sleep, 
Upon the very naked name of love. 

Shakspeare's Two Gent, of Verona, 



PITY. 

Pity is benevolence to the afflicted. It is a mix- 
ture of love for an object that suffers, and a grief that 
we are not able to remove those sufferings. It shows 
itself in a compassionate tenderness of voice ; a feel- 
ing of pain in the countenance, and a gentle raising 
and falling of the hands, and eyes, as if mourning 
over the unhappy object. The mouth is open, the 
eye-brows are drawn down, and the features con- 
tracted or drawn together. See p. 289 and 290. 

Pity in plaintive Narration. 

As in a theatre the eyes of men, 
After a well-grac'd actor leaves the stage, 
Are idly bent on him that enters next, 
Thinking his prattle to be tedious. 
Even as, or with much more contempt, men's eyes, 



302 ELEMENTS OF 

Did scowl on Richard 5 no man cry'd God save him ; 

No joyful tongue gave him his welcome home : 

But dust was thrown upon his sacred head ; 

Which with such gentle sorrow he shook off— 

His face still combating with tears and smiles, 

The badges of his grief and patience, — 

That had not God, for some strong purpose, steel'd 

The hearts of men, they must perforce have melted, 

And barbarism itself have pitied him. 

But heav'n hath a hand in those events ; 

To whose high will we bound our calm contents. 

Shakspeares Richard II. 

Pity for fallen Greatness. 

Ah, Richard ! with eyes of heavy mind, 
I see thy glory like a shooting star, 
Fall to the base earth, from the firmament ! 
Thy sun sets weeping in the lowly west, 
Witnessing storms to come, woe, and unrest j 
Thy friends are fled, to wait upon thy foes, 
And crossly to thy good all fortune goes. Ibid. 



Pity for a departed Friend. 

Alas! poor Yorick ! I knew him, Horatio ; a fellow of infinite 
jest, of most excellent fancy : he hath borne me on his back a thou- 
sand times ; and now how abhorred in my imagination it is j my 
gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that 1 have kissed 1 know not 
how oft. Where be your gibes now ? Your gambols r Your songs ? 
Your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar ? 
Not one now to mock your own grinning ? Quite chap-fallen ? Now 
get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch 
thick, to this favour she must come j make her laugh at that. 

Ibid. Hamlet. 

Pity for the Object beloved. 

Poor lord ! is't I 
That chase thee from thy country, and expose 
Those tender limbs of thine to the event 
Of the none-sparing war ? and is it I 
That drive thee from the sportive court, where thou 
Wast shot at with fair eyes, to be the mark 
Of smoky muskets ? O you leaden messengers, 
That ride upon the violent speed of fire, 
Fly with false aim ; move the still-piercing air, 
That sings with piercing, do not touch my lord ! 
Whoever shoots at him, I set him there ; 



ELOCUTION. 303 

Whoever charges on his forward breast. 

I am the caitiff, that do hold him to it ; 

And, though I kill him not, I am the cause 

His death was so effected : better 'twere 

I met the raven lion when he roar'd 

With sharp constraint of hunger ; better 'twere 

That all the miseries which nature owes, 

Were mine at once : No, come thou home, Roussillon, 

Whence honour but of danger wins a scar : 

As oft it loses all ; I will be gone : 

My being here it is, that holds thee hence ; 

Shall I stay here to do 't ? no, no, although 

The air of paradise did fan the house, 

And angels offic'd all ! I will be gone. 

Shakspeare's All's Well, fyc. 



Pity for Youth overwatched. 

Luc. I have slept, my lord, already. 

Bru. It was well done ; and thou shalt sleep again j 
I shall not hold thee long : if I do live, 
I will be good to thee. [Music, and a Song. 

This is a sleepy tune j O murd'rous slumber ! 
Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy, 
That plays thee music } — Gentle knave, good night } 
I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee. 
If thou dost nod, thou break'st thy instrument j 
I '11 take it from thee, and, good boy, good night. 

Ibid. Julius* Caesar.. 



HOPE. 

Hope is a mixture of desire and joy, agitating the 
mind, and anticipating its enjoyment. It erects and 
brightens the countenance, spreads the arms with the 
hands open, as to receive the object of its wishes : the 
voice is plaintive, and inclining to eagerness ; the 
breath drawn inwards more forcibly than usual, in 
order to express our desires the more strongly, and 
our earnest expectation of receiving the object of 
them. 

Collins, in his Ode on the Passions, gives us a 
beautiful picture of Hope : 



304 ELEMENTS OF 

But thou, O Hope, with eyes so fair, 

What was thy delighted measure ? 

Still it whisper'd promis'd pleasure, 

And bade the lovely scenes at distance hail -, 

Still would her touch the scene prolong, 

And from the rocks, the woods, the vale, 

She call'd on echo still through all the song - } 

And where her sweetest theme she chose 

A soft responsive voice was heard at every close, 

And Hope, enchanted, smil'd, and wav'd her golden hair, 



Hope from approaching Nuptials. 

Now, fair Hippolita, cur nuptial hour 
Draws on apace 5 four happy days bring in 
Another moon 5 but oh ! me thinks, how slow 
This old moon wanes ! she lingers my desires, 
Like to a step-dame, or a dowager 
Long-withering out a young man's revenue. 

Shakspeere's Midsum. Night. 



Hope of 'good Tidings. 

O Hope, sweet flatterer, whose delusive touch 
Sheds on afflicted minds the balm of comfort, 
Relieves the load of poverty ; sustains 
The captive bending with the weight of bonds, 
And smooths the pillow of disease and pain j 
Send back th' exploring messenger with joy, 
And let me hail thee from that friendly grove. 

Glover s Boadicea. 



HATRED, AVERSION. 

When by frequent reflection on a disagreeable ob- 
ject, our disapprobation of it is attended with a disin- 
clination of mind towards it, it is called hatred. When 
our hatred and disapprobation of any object are ac- 
companied with a painful sensation upon the appre- 
hension of its presence or approach, there follows an 
inclination to avoid it., called aversion. 

Hatred or aversion, draws back the body as to 
avoid the hated object \ the hands at the same time 



ELOCUTION. 305 

thrown out spread, as if to keep it off. The face is 
turned away from that side towards which the hands 
are thrown out ; the eyes looking angrily, and ob- 
liquely, the same way the hands are directed ; the 
eye-brows are contracted, the upper lip disdainfully 
drawn up, and the teeth set: the pitch of the voice is 
low, but loud and harsh ; the tone chiding, unequal, 
surly, and vehement ; the sentences are short and 
abrupt. 

A description and example of this passion from 
Shakspeare is given in the introduction to these ex- 
amples, p. 288. To these we shall add a few others: 

Hatred cursing the Object Hated. 

Poison be their drink, 
Gall, worse than gall, the daintiest meat they taste j 
Their sweetest shade a grove of cypress trees, 
Their sweetest prospects murd'ring basilisks, 
Their softest touch as smart as lizards' stings, 
Their music frightful as the serpent's hiss, 
And boding screech-owls make the concert full ; 
AH the foul terrors of dark-seated hell. Shaks. Hen. VI. 



This seems imitated by Dr. Young. 

Why get thee gone, horror and night go with thee. 
Sisters of Acheron, go hand in hand, 
Go dance about the bow'r and close them in ; 
And tell them that I sent you to salute them. 
Profane the ground, and for th' ambrosial rose 
And breath of jessamin, let hemlock blacken, 
And deadly-night-shade poison all the air : 
For the sweet nightingale may ravens croak, 
Toads pant, and adders rustle through the leaves : 
May serpents, winding up the trees, let fall 
Their hissing necks upon them from above, 
And mingle kisses —such as I would give them. Revenge. 

Hatred of a Rival in Glory. 

He is my bane, I cannot bear him ; 
One heaven and earth can never hold us both j 



306 ELEMENTS OF 

Still shall we hate, and with defiance deadly 
Keep rage alive till one be lost for ever ; 
As if two suns should meet in one meridian, 
And strive in fiery combat for the passage. 

Rowe's Tamerlane. 



ANGER, RAGE, FURY. 

When hatred and displeasure rise high on a sud- 
den from an apprehension of injury received, and 
perturbation of mind in consequence of it, it is called 
anger ; and rising to a very high degree, and ex- 
tinguishing humanity, becomes rage and fury. 

Anger, when violent, expresses itself with rapidity, 
noise, harshness, and sometimes with interruption 
and hesitation, as if unable to utter itself with suf- 
ficient force. It wrinkles the brows, enlarges and 
heaves the nostrils, strains the muscles, clinches the 
fist, stamps with the foot, and gives a violent agita- 
tion to the whole body. The voice assumes the 
highest tone it can adopt consistently with force and 
loudness, though sometimes to express anger with 
uncommon energy, the voice assumes a low and for- 
cible tone. 

Narrative in suppressed Anger. 

My liege, I did deny no prisoners, 
But I remember when the fight was done, 
When 1 was dry with rage, and extreme toil, 
Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword, 
Came there a certain lord, neat, trimly dress'd, 
Fresh as a bridegroom : and his chin, new reap'd, 
Show'd like a stubble land at harvest home : 
He was perfumed like a milliner ; 
And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held 
A pouncet-box, which ever and anon, 
He gave his nose, and took 't away again ; 
Who, therewith angry when it next came there, 
Took it in snuff— and still he smil'd and talk'd, 
And as the soldiers bore dead bodies by, 
He call'd them — untaught knaves, unmannerly, 
To bring a slovenly unhandsome corse 



ELOCUTION. 307 

Betwixt the wind and his nobility. 

With many holiday and lady terms, 

He question'd me, among the rest demanded 

My prisoners in your majesty's behalf. 

I then all smarting in my wounds being cold, 

To be so pestered with a popinjay, 

Out of my grief and my impatience 

Answered neglectingly, I know not what, 

He should or he should not -, for he made me mad, 

To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet, 

And talk so like a talking gentlewoman, 

Of guns, and drums, and wounds (heav'n save the mark!), 

And telling me the sovereign'st thing on earth, 

Was parmacity for an inward bruise ; ^» 

And that it was great pity, so it was, 

That villanous saltpetre should be digg'd 

Out of the bowels of the harmless earth, 

Which many a good tall fellow had destroy' d 

So cowardly ; and but for these vile guns, 

He would himself have been a soldier. 

This bald, unjointed chat of his, my lord, 

I answer'd indirectly as I said, 

And I beseech you, let not his report, 

Come current for an accusation, 

Betwixt my love and your high majesty. 

Shakspeare's Henry IV. First Part. 

Scorn and violent dnger, reproving. 

Tut! tut! 
Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle, 
I am no traitor's uncle ; and that word — grace 
In an ungracious mouth is but profane ; 
Why have those banished and forbidden legs 
Dar'd once to touch a dust of England's ground ? 
But more than why — Why have they dar'd to march 
So many miles upon her peaceful bosom ; 
Frighting her pale fac'd villages with war, 
And ostentation of despised arms ? 
Com'st thou because the anointed king is hence ? 
Why, foolish boy, the king is left behind, 
And in my loyal bosom lies his pow'r. 
Were I but now the lord of such hot youth, 
As when brave Gaunt, thy father, and myself 
Rescu'd the Black Prince, that young Mars of men, 
From forth the ranks of many thousand French ; 
Oh, then, how quickly should this arm of mine, 
Now prisoner to the palsy, chastise thee, 
And minister correction to thy fault ! Skaksp. Rich. 11. 

X 2 



308 ELEMENTS OF 



REVENGE. 

Revenge is a propensity and endeavour to injure 
the offender, which is attended with triumph and 
exultation when the injury is accomplished. It ex- 
presses itself like malice, but more openly, loudly, 
and triumphantly. 

Determined Revenge. 

I know not : if they speak but truth of her 
These hands shall tear her ; if they wrong her honour 
The proudest of them shall well hear of it. 
Time hath not yet so dry'd this blood of mine, 
Nor age so eat up my invention, 
Nor fortune made such havoc of my means, 
Nor my bad life 'reft me so much of friends, 
But they shall find awak'd in such a kind, 
Both strength of limb and policy of mind, 
Ability of means, and choice of friends 
To quit me of them thoroughly. Shaksp. Much Ado, 8$c. 

Eager Revenge. 

Oh, I could play the woman with mine eyes, 
And braggart with my tongue ! — But, gentle heaven, 
Cut short all intermission : front to front, 
Bring thou this fiend of Scotland, and myself; 
Within my sword's length set him ; if he 'scape, 
Heaven forgive him too ! Ibid. Macbeth. 

Unrestrained Fury. 

Alive ! in triumph ! and Mercutio slain ! 
Away to heaven respective lenity, 
And fire-ey'd fury be my conduct now ! 
Now Tybalt take the villain back again 
That late thou gav'st me ; for Mercutio's soul 
Is but a little way above our heads 
Staying for thine to keep him company, 
And thou or I, or both shall follow him. 

Ibid. Romeo and Juliet. 

REPROACH. 

Reproach is settled anger, or hatred chastising the 
object of dislike, by casting in his teeth the severest 



ELOCUTION. 309 

censures upon his imperfections or misconduct ; the 
brow is contracted, the lip turned up with scorn, the 
head shaken, the voice low, as if abhorring, and the 
whole body expressive of aversion. 



Reproaching with Stupidity and Inconstancy. 

Wherefore rejoice } What conquest brings 'he home ? 
What tributaries follow him to Rome, 
To grace in captive bonds his chariot wheels ? 
You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things ! 
O, you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome, 
Knew ye not Pompey ? Many a time and oft s 

Have you clim'd up to walls and battlements, 
To towers and windows, yea, to chimney tops, 
Your infants in your arms, and there have sat 
The live-long day, with patient expectation 
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome : 
And when you saw his chariot but appear, 
^Have you not made an universal shout, 
That Tyber trembled underneath his banks, 
To hear the replication of your sounds, 
Made in his concave shores ? 
And do you now put on your best attire ? 
And do you now cull out a holiday ? 
And do you now strew flowers in his way, 
That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood ? 
Be gone 3 

Run to your houses ; fall upon your knees, 
Pray to the gods to intermit the plague, 
That needs must light on this ingratitude. Shaksp. Jul. Cces 



Reproaching with want of Friendship. 

You have done that you should be sorry for. 
There is n© terror, Cassius, in your threats \ 
For I am arm'd so strong in honesty, 
That they pass by me as the idle wind, 
Which I respect not. I did send to you 
For certain sums of gold, which you deny'd me j 
For I can raise no money by vile means ; 
No, Cassius, 1 had rather coin my heart, 
And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring 
From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash 
By any indirection. I did send 
To you for gold to pay my legions, 



610 ELEMENTS OF 

Which you deny'd me : was that done like Cassius ? 

Should I have answer'd Caius Cassius so ? 

When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous, 

To lock such rascal counters from his friends, 

Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts, 

Dash him to pieces. Shaksp. Jul. Cas. 

Reproaching with want of Manliness. 

O proper stuff ! 
This is the very painting of your fears ; 
This is the air-drawn dagger, which you said, 
Led you to Duncan. Oh, these flaws and starts 
(Impostors to true fear) would well become 
A woman's story, at a winter's fire, 
Authoriz'd by her grandam. Shame itself ! 
Why do you make such faces ? When all 's done, 
You look but on a stool| Ibid. Macbeth. 

Reproaching with want of Courage and Spirit. 

Thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward, 
Thou little valiant, great in villainy ! 
Thou ever strong upon the stronger side 
Thou fortune's champion, thou dost never fight 
But when her humorous ladyship is by 
To teach thee safety ! thou art perjur'd too 
And sooth'st up greatness. What a fool art thou, 
A ramping fool; to brag, and stamp and swear, 
Upon my party ! Thou cold-blooded slave, 
Hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side, 
Been sworn my soldier? Bidding me depend 
Upon thy stars, thy fortune and thy strength ? 
And dost thou now fall over to my foes ? 
Thou wear a lion's hide ! doff it for shame, 
And hang a calf's skin on those recreant limbs. 

Ibid. King John. 

I EAR AND TERROR. 

Fear is a mixture of aversion and sorrow, discom- 
posing and debilitating the mind upon the approach 
or anticipation of evil. When this is attended with 
surprise and much discomposure, it grows into terror 
and consternation. 

Fear, violent and sudden, opens wide the eyes and 
mouth, shortens the nose, gives the countenance an 



ELOCUTION. 311 

air of wildness, covers it with deadly paleness, draws 
back the elbows parallel with the sides, lifts up the 
open hands, with the ringers spread, to the height of 
the breast at some distance before it, so as to shield 
it from the dreadful object. One foot is drawn back 
behind the other, so that the body seems shrinking 
from the danger, and putting itself into a posture for 
flight. The heart beats violently, the breath is quick 
and short, and the whole body is thrown into a gene- 
ral tremour. The voice is weak and trembling, the 
sentences are short, and the meaning confused and 
incoherent. 

Terror before dreadful Actions described. 

Between the acting of a dreadful thing, 
And the first motion, all the interim is 
Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream ; 
The genius, and the mortal instruments, 
Are then in council, and the state of man, 
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then 
The nature of an insurrection. Shakspeares Jul. Cess. 

Terror of Evening and Night described. 

Light thickens 5 and the crow 
Makes wing to the rooky wood $ 
Good things of day begin to droop aud drowze ; 
While night's black agents to their prey do rouze. 
Thou marvell'st at my words : but hold thee still j 
Things, bad begun, make strong themselves by ill. 

Ibid. Macbeth. 



Fear from a dreadful Object. 

* 

Angels and ministers of grace defend us — 
Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd, 
Bring with thee airs from heav'n, or blasts from hell, 
Be thy intents wicked or charitable, 
Thou com'st in such a questionable shape 
That I will speak to thee. 
Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings, 
You heavenly guard ! what would your gracious figure ? 

Ibid. Hamlet . 



312 ELEMENTS OF 



Horror at a dreadful Apparition. 

How ill this taper burns ! ha ! who comes here ? 
I think it is the weakness of my eyes, 

That shapes this monstrous apparition 

It comes upon me — Art thou any thing? 

Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil, 

That mak'st my blood cold, and my hair to stare, 

Speak to me what thou art. Shakspeares Jul. Cces, 

Terror from committing Murder. 

Mac. 1 've done the deed — didst thou not hear a noise ? 

Lady. I heard the owl scream, and the crickets cry. 
Did you not speak ? 

Mac. When ? 

Lady. Now. 

Mac. As I descended ? 

Lady. Ay. 

Mac. Hark ! — who lies i' th' second chamber ? 

Lady, Donalbain. 

Mac. This is a sorry sight. 

Lady. A foolish thought to say a sorry sight. 

Mac. There's one did laugh in his sleep, and one cry'd 
Murder ! 
That they did wake each other ; I stood and heard them : 
But they did say their pray'rs, and address'd them 
Again to sleep. Ibid. Macbeth. 

Fear of being discovered in Murder. 

Alas, I am afraid they have awak'd, 
And 'tis not done : th' attempt and not the deed 

Confounds us Hark ! — I laid the daggers ready, 

He could not miss them. Had he not resembled 

My father as he slept, I had done it. Ibid. 



SORROW. 

Sorrow is a painful depression of spirit, upon the 
deprivation of good, or arrival of evil ; when it is 
silent and thoughtful, it is sadness ; when long in- 
dulged, so as to prey upon and possess the mind, it 
becomes habitual, and grows into melancholy \ when 
tossed by hopes and fears, it is distraction ; when 
these are swallowed up by it, it settles into despair. 



ELOCUTION. 31S 

In moderate sorrow, the countenance is dejected, 
the eyes are cast downward, the arms hang loose, 
sometimes a little raised, suddenly to fall again ; the 
hands open, the fingers spread, and the voice plain- 
tive, frequently interrupted with sighs. But when 
this passion is in excess, it distorts the countenance, 
as if in agonies of pain ; it raises the voice to the 
loudest complainings, and sometimes even to cries 
and shrieks ; it wrings the hands, beats the head and 
breast, tears the hair, and throws itself on the ground: 
and, like other passions, in excess, seems to border 
on phrensy. 

Sadness. 

Ant. In sooth, I know not why 1 am so sad. 
It wearies me 5 you say it wearies you : 
> But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, 
What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, 
I am to learn. 

And such a want-wit sadness makes of me, 
That I have much ado to know myself. 

Gra. You look not well, signor Antonio ; 
You have too much respect upon the world : 
They lose it that do buy it with much care ; 
Believe me, you are marvellously changed. 

Ant. 1 hold the world but as the world, Gratiano ; 
A stage, where every one must play his part j 
And mine T s a sad one. Shaksp. Mer. of Venice, 

Deep Melancholy described. 

She never told her love, 
But let concealment, like a worm i' th' bud, 
Feed on her damask cheek. She pin'd in thought, 
And with a green and yellow melancholy 
She sat like Patience on a monument 
Smiling at grief. Ibid. Twelfth Night, 

t Pensive foreboding* 

My mother had a maid call'd Barbara, 
She was in love ; and he she lov'd prov'd mad, 
And did forsake her : she had a song of willow* 
An old thing 'twas, but it express'd her fortune, 



314 ELEMENTS OF 

And she dy'd singing it : that song to night 

Will not go from my mind, I have much to do 

But to go hang my head all o' one side, 

And sing it like poor Barbara. Shaksp. Othello. 

Silent Grief. 

Seems, madam I nay, it is : I know not seems, 
""Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, 
Nor customary suits of solemn black, 
Nor windy suspiration of forc'd breath j 
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, 
Nor the dejected 'haviour of the visage, 
Together with all forms, modes, shows of grief 
That can denote me truly : these indeed seem, 
For they are actions that a man might play 3 
But I have that within which passeth show, 
These but the trappings and the suits of woe. Ibid. Hamlet. 

Inward Sorrow. 

Say that again. 
The shadow of my sorrow ! Ha ! let's see : 
'Tis very true, my grief lies all within j 
And these external manners of lament 
Are merely shadows to the unseen grief 
That swells with silence in my tojtured soul ; 
There lies the substance : and I thank thee, king, 
For thy great bounty, that not only giv'st 
Me cause to wail, but teachest me the way 
How to lament the cause. I'll beg one boon, 
And then be gone, and trouble you no more. Ibid. Rich. II. 

Sorrow forgetful of its Intentions. 

Yet one word more 5 — grief boundeth where it falls, 
Not with the empty hollowness, but weight; 
I take my leave before I have began, 
For sorrow ends not when it seemeth done, 
Commend me to my brother, Edmund York, 
Lo this is all : — nay yet depart not so ; 
Though this be all, do not so quickly go, 
I shall remember more. Bid him — Oh, what ? 
With all good speed at Plashy visit me. 
Alack, and what shall good old York there see, 
But empty lodgings, and unfurnish'd walls, 
Unpeopled offices, untrodden stones ? 
And what hear there for welcome but my groans ? 



ELOCUTION. 315 

Therefore commend me -, let him not come there 

To seek out sorrow that dwells every where 5 

Desolate, desolate, will I hence, and die j 

The last leave of thee takes my weeping eye. Shaks. Rich. 11. 



Grief deploring Loss of Happiness. 

I had been happy if the general camp, 
Pioneers and all, had wrong'd my love, 
So had I nothing known : O now for ever, 
Farewell the tranquil mind : farewell content, 
Farewell the plumed troop and the big war 
That make ambition virtue ! O farewell, 
Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump, 
The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife, 
The royal banner, and all quality, 
Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war ! 
Farewell ! Othello's occupation's gone. Ibid. Othello. 

Grief approaching to Madness. 

Pand. Lady, you utter madness, and not sorrow. 

Const. Thou art unholy to belie me so j 
I am not mad : this hair I tear is mine 3 
My name is Constance ; I was Geffrey's wife 3 
Young Arthur is my son, and he is lost : 
I am not mad ; — I would to heaven I were ! 
For then 'tis like I should forget myself j 
Oh, if I could, what grief should I forget ! 
Preach some philosophy to make me mad, 
And, cardinal, thou shalt be canon iz'd ; 
For, being not mad, but sensible of grief, 
My reasonable part produces reason 
How I may be delivered of these woes, 
And teaches me to kill or hang myself : 
If I were mad I should forget my son, 
Or madly think a babe of clouts were he j 
I am not mad ; too well, too well I feel 
The different plague of each calamity, Ibid. King John. 



Grief mixed with Pity assuming a Smile. 

Grief fills the room up of my absent child, 
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me 5 
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, 
Remembers me of all his gracious parts, 
Stuffs out his vacant garments with hi3 form, 
Then have I reason to be fond of grief. Ibid, 



3L6 ELEMENTS OF 



Grief approaching to Distraction. 

Thou canst not speak of what thou dost not feel ; 

Wert thou as young as I, Juliet thy love, 

An hour but married, Tybalt murder'd, 

Doating like me, and like me banished, 

Then might'st thou speak, then might'st thou tear thy hair, 

And fall upon the ground as I do now, 

Taking the measure of an unmade grave. 

Shakspeares Romeo and Juliet. 

Grief choking Expression. 

Macd. My children too ! 

Rosse. Wife, children, servants, all that could be found ! 

Macd. And I must be from thence ! my wife kill'd too ? 

Rosse. I've said. 

Mai. Be comforted. 
Let 's make us med'cines of our great revenge, 
To cure this deadly grief. 

Macd. He has no children ; 
What, all my pretty ones ? Did you say all ? 
What, all ? 

Mai. Endure it like a man. 

Macd. I shall. 
But I must also feel it as a man. 
I cannot but remember such things were, 
That were most precious to me : did heav'n look on, 
And would not take their part ? sinful Macduff, 
They were all struck for thee ! naught that I am ! 
Not for their own demerits, but for mine 
Fell slaughter en their souls : heaven rest them now. 

Ibid. Macbeth. 

REMORSE. 

Remorse, or a painful remembrance of criminal 
actions or pursuits, casts down the countenance, and 
Clouds it with anxiety, hangs down the head, shakes 
it with regret, just raises the eyes as if to look up, and 
suddenly casts them down again with sighs; the right 
hand sometimes beats the breast, and the whole body 
writhes as with self-aversion. The voice has a harsh- 
ness as in hatred, and inclines to a low and reproach- 
ful tone. 



ELOCUTION. 317 

Keen Remorse for Drunkenness. 

I remember a mass of things, but nothing distinctly ; a quarrel, 
nothing wherefore. O that men should put an enemy in their mouths 
to steal away their brains ! that we should with joy, pleasure, revel, 
and applause, transform ourselves into beasts ! I will ask him for my 
place again ; he shall tell me I am a drunkard 5 had I as many 
mouths as Hydra, such an answer would stop them all. To be now 
a sensible man, by and by a fool, and presently a beast ! O strange ! 
every inordinate cup is unblessed, and the ingredient is a devil ! 

Shakspeare's Othello. 

Remorse for Treachery and Ingratitude. 

I am alone the villain of the earth -, 
And feel I am so most. O Antony, 
Thou mine of bounty, how wouldst thou have paid 
My better service, when my turpitude 
Thou dost so crown with gold ! This blows my heart j 
Tf swift thought break it not, a swifter mean 
Shall out-strike thought ; but thought will do 't I feel — 
I fight against thee ! — No : I will go seek 
Some ditch wherein to die j the foulest best 
Befits my latter part of life. Ibid. Ant. and Cleo. 

Reproach and Remorse for Murder of an innocent Child. 

Oh, when the last account 'twixt heav'n and earth 
Is to be made, then shall this hand and seal 
Witness against us to damnation ! 
How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds 
Makes deeds ill done ! Hadst thou not been by, 
A fellow by the hand of nature mark'd, 
Quoted and sign'd to do a deed of shame, 
This murder had not come into my mind, 
But taking note of thy abhorr'd aspect, 
Finding thee fit for bloody villainy, 
Apt, liable to be employ'd in danger, 
I faintly broke with thee of Arthur's death; 
And thou to be endeared to a king, 
Mad'st it no conscience to destroy a prince. Ibid. King John. 



DESPAIR. 

Despair, as in a condemned criminal, or one who 
has lost all hope of salvation, bends the eye-brows 
downwards, clouds the forehead, rolls the eyes fright- 



318 ELEMENTS OF 

fully, opens the mouth horizon tally, bites the lips, 
widens the nostrils, and gnashes the teeth. The arms 
are sometimes bent at the elbows, the fists clenched 
hard, the veins and muscles swelled, the skin livid, 
the whole body strained and violently agitated ; while 
groans of inward torture are more frequently uttered 
than words. If any words, they are few, and ex- 
pressed with a sullen eager bitterness, the tone of 
the voice often loud and furious, and sometimes in 
the same note for a considerable time* This state 
of human nature is too frightful to dwell upon, and 
almost improper for imitation ; for if death cannot 
be counterfeited without too much shocking our 
humanity ; despair, which exhibits a state ten thou- 
sand times more terrible than death, ought to be 
viewed with a kind of reverence to the great Author 
of Nature, who seems sometimes to exhibit to us this 
agony of mind as a warning to avoid that wickedness 
which produces it. 

Shakspeare has most exquisitely touched this fear- 
ful situation of human nature, where he draws cardi- 
nal Beaufort, after a wicked life, dying in despair, 
and terrified with the murder of duke Humphrey, to 
which he was accessary. 



K. Hen. How fares my lord ? speak, Beaufort, to thy sovereign. 

Car. If thou be'st Death, I'll give thee England's treasure, 
Enough to purchase such another island, 
So thou wilt let me live, and feel no pain. 

K. Hen. Ah, what a sign it is of evil life, 
When Death's approach is seen so terrible ! 

War. Beaufort, it is thy sovereign speaks to thee, 

Car. Bring me to my trial when you will, 
Dy'd he not in his bed ? where should he die ? 
Can I make men live, whether they will or no ? — 
Oh ! torture me no more, I will confess. — 
Alive again ? then shew me where he is, 
I '11 give a thousand pounds to look upon him. — 
He hath no eyes, the dust hath blinded them — 
Comb down his hair j look ! look ! it stands upright, 
Like lime-twigs to catch my winged soul ! 



ELOCUTION. 319 

Give me some drink, and bid the apothecary 
Bring the strong poison that I bought of him. 

K. Hen. O thou eternal Mover of the heavens, 
Look with gentle eye upon this wretch j 
O beat away the busy meddling fiend 
That lays strong siege unto this wretch's soul, 
And from his bosom purge this black despair ! 

War. See how the pangs of death do make him grin. 

Sal. Disturb him not, let him pass peaceably. 

K. Hen. Peace to his soul if God's good pleasure be ! 
Lord Cardinal, if thou think'st on heav'n's bliss, 
Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope, — 
He dies, and makes no sign : O God, fogive him. 

Shakspeares 2nd Part, Hen, VI. 

The bare situation of the characters, the pause 
and the few plain words of King Henry, He dies, 
and makes no sign! have more of the real sublime in 
them than volumes of the laboured speech in most 
of our modern tragedies, which, in the emphatical 
language of Shakspeare, may be said to be " full of 
sound and fury signifying nothing." 



SURPRISE, WONDER, AMAZEMENT, 
ADMIRATION. 

An uncommon object produces wonder; if it ap- 
pears suddenly, it begets surprise ; surprise continu- 
ing becomes amazement; and if the object of wonder 
comes gently to the mind, and arrests the attention 
by its beauty or grandeur, it excites admiration, 
which is a mixture of approbation and wonder ; so 
true is that observation of Dr. Young in the tragedy 
of the Revenge : 

Late time shall wonder, that my joys shall raise, 
For wonder is involuntary praise. 

Wonder or amazement opens the eyes, and makes 
them appear very prominent. It sometimes raises 
them to the skies, but more frequently fixes them on 



320 ELEMENTS OF 

the object; the mouth is open, and the hands are 
held up nearly in the attitude of fear ; the voice is at 
first low, but so emphatical, that every word is pro- 
nounced slowly and with energy : when, by the dis- 
covery of something excellent in the object of won- 
der, the emotion may be called admiration, the eyes 
are raised, the hands lifted up, or clapped together, 
and the voice elated with expressions of rapture. 

Surprise at unexpected Events. 

Gone to be marry'd, gone to swear a peace ! 
False blood to false blood join'd ! Gone to be friends ? 
Shall Lewis have Blanch ? and Blanch those provinces? 
It is not so : thou hast mispoke, misheard ! 
Be well advis'd, tell o'er thy tale again : 
It cannot be : thou dost but say 'tis so. 
What dost thou mean by shaking of thy head ? 
Why dost thou look so sadly on my son ? 
What means that hand upon that breast of thine ? 
Why holds thine eye that lamentable rheum, 
Like a proud river peering o'er his bounds ? 
Be these sad sighs confirmers of thy words ? 
Then speak again j not all thy former tale, 
But this one word, whether thy tale be true. 

Shakspeare 's King John. 

Amazement at strange News, 

Old men and beldames, in the streets, 
Do prophesy upon it dangerously ; 
Young Arthur's death is common in their mouths j 
And when they talk of him they shake their heads, 
And whisper one another in the ear ; 
And he that speaks doth gripe the hearer's wrist 5 
Whilst he that hears makes fearful action, 
With wrinkled brows, with nods, with rolling eyes. 
I saw a smith stand with his hammer thus, 
The whilst his iron did on the anvil cool, 
With open mouth swallowing a tailor's news ; 
Who, with his shears and measure in his hand, 
Standing on slippers (which his nimble haste 
Had falsely thrust upon contrary feet), 
Told of a many thousand warlike French, 
That were embattled and rank'd in Kent : 
Another lean unwash'd artificer 
Cuts off his tale, and talks of Arthur's death. Ibid. 



ELOCUTION. 32! 

Emphatic Climax of Astonishment. 

Sir Richard, what think you ? Have you beheld, 
Or, have you read, or heard ? or could you think ? 
Or do you almost think, although you see, 
That you do see ? Could thought, without this object, 
Form such another ? This is the very top, 
The height, the crest, or crest unto the crest 
Of murder's arms ■ This is the bloodiest shame, 
The wildest savag'ry, the vilest stroke, 
That ever wall-ey'd Wrath, or starving Rage, 
Presented to the tears of soft Remorse, 

PRIDE. 

When our esteem of ourselves, or opinion of our 
own rank and merit, is so high as to lessen the re- 
gard due to the rank and merit of others, it is called 
pride. When it supposes others below our regard, 
it is contempt, scorn, or disdain. 

Pride assumes a lofty look, bordering upon the 
aspect and attitude of anger. The eyes full open, 
but with the eye-brows considerably drawn down, 
the mouth pouting, mostly shut, and the lips con- 
tracted. The words are uttered with a slow, stiff, 
bombastic affectation of importance; the hands some- 
times rest on the hips, with the elbows brought 
forward in the position called a-kimbo ; the legs 
at a distance from each other, the steps large and 
stately. 

Pride asserting Independence. 

Your grace shall pardon me, I will not back j 
I am too high born to be property'd ; 
To be a secondary at control, 
Or useful serving-man and instrument 
To any sovereign state throughout the world. 
Your breath first kindled the dead coal of war 
Between this chastis'd kingdom and myself, 
And brought in matter that should feed this fire 5 
And now 'tis far too huge to be blown out 
With that same weak wind which enkindled it. 
You taught me how to know the face of right, 

Y 



32% ELEMENTS OF 

Acquainted me with interest to this land ; 
Yea, thrust this enterprize into my heart j 
And come ye now to tell me John hath made 
His peace with Rome? What is that peace to me? 
1, by the honour of my marriage bed, 
After young Arthur, claim this land for mine; 
And, now it is half conquered, must I back, 
Because that John hath made his peace with Rome ? 
Am I Rome's slave ? What penny hath Rome borne, 
What men provided, what munition sent, 
To underprop this action ? Is 't not I 
That undergo this charge ? Who else but I, 
And such as to my claim are liable, 
Sweat in this business, and maintain this war ? 
Have I not heard these islanders shout out 
Vive le Roy ! as I have bank'd their towns ? 
Have I not here the best cards for the game, 
To win this easy match play'd for a crown ? 
And shall I now give o'er the yielded set ? 
No, no, my soul, it never shall be said. Shaks. K. John, 



Pride bordering on Contempt. 

Worcester, get thee gone, for I do see 
Danger and disobedience in thine eye ; 
O, sir, your presence is too bold and peremptory, 
And majesty might never yet endure 
The moody frontier of a servant brow. 
You have good leave to leave us ; when we need 
Your use and counsel, we shall send for you. 

Shakspeare, Hen, IV. 



CONFIDENCE, COURAGE, BOASTING. 

Confidence is hope, elated by security of success 
in obtaining its object; and courage is the con- 
tempt of any unavoidable danger in the execution of 
what is resolved upon : In both, the head is erect, 
the breast projected, the countenance clear and open ; 
the accents are strong, round, and not too rapid ; 
the voice firm and even. Boasting exaggerates these 
appearances by loudness, blustering, and what is 
not unaptly called swaggering : The arms are placed 
a-kimbo, the foot stamped on the ground, the head 



ELOCUTION. 3£S 

drawn back with pride, the legs take large strides, 
and the voice swells into bombast. 



Confidence in one beloved. 

Base men that use them to so base effect ! 
But truer stars did govern Proteus' birth $ 
His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles, 
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate, 
His tears pure messengers sent from his heart, 
His heart as far from fraud as heav'n from earth. 

Shaks. Two Gent, of Ver. 



Confidence of Success in Combat. 

Boling. O let no noble eye profane a tear •> 
For me, if I be gor'd with Mowbray's spear : 
As confident as is the falcon's flight. — 
Against a bird, do I with Mowbray fight. — 
My loving lord, I take my leave of you j — 
Of you, my noble cousin, lord Aumerle j — 
Not sick, although I have to do with death ; 
But lusty, young, and cheerly drawing breath. — 
Lo ! as at English feasts, so I regreet 
The daintiest last, to make the end more sweet. 
Oh thou, the earthly author of my blood, 
Whose useful spirit in me regenerate 
Doth with a twofold vigour lift me up, 
To reach at victory above my head, — 
Add proof unto mine armour with thy prayers ; 
That it may enter Mowbray's waxen coat. 
And furnish new the name of John of Gaunt, 
Even in the lusty 'haviour of his son. Shaks. Rich. U. 

Mowb. However heaven or fortune cast my lot, 
There lives or dies true to King Richard's throne, 
A loyal, just, and upright gentleman. 
Never did captive with a freer heart 
Cast off his chains of bondage, and embrace 
His golden, uncontrol'd enfranchisement, 
More than my dancing soul doth celebrate 
This feast of battle with mine adversary. — 
Most mighty liege, — and my companion peers, 
Take from my mouth the wish of happy years : 
As gentle, and as jocund, as to jest, 

Go 1 to fight, — truth had a quiet breast. Ibid. 

y2 



324 ELEMENTS OF 



Firm determined Resolution in Battle. 

I am satisfy'd : 
Caesar sits down in Alexandria, where 
I will oppose his fate. Our force by land 
Hath nobly held : our sever d navy, too, 
Have knit again, and fleet, threat'ning most sea-like. 
Where hast thou been, my heart ? Dost thou hear, lady ? 
If from the field I should 'return once more, 
To kiss these lips, I will appear in blood ; 
I and my sword will earn my chronicle j 
There is hope in it yet : 
I will be treble-sinew'd, hearted, breath'd, 
And fight maliciously : for when mine hours 
Were nice and lucky, men did ransom lives 
Of me for jests ; but now I '11 set my teeth, 
And send to darkness all that stop me. Ibid. Ant. & Chop. 

Boasting indignant Challenge. 

Show me what thou 'It do ; 
Woo't weep ? woo't fight? woo't fast ? woo't tear thyself? 
Woo't drink up esil ; eat a crocodile ? 
I '11 do 't — Do'st thou come here to whine, 
To outface me with leaping in her grave ? 
Be buried quick with her, and so will I : 
And if thou prate of mountains, let them throw 
Millions of acres on us ; till our ground, 
Singeing its pate against the burning zone, 
Make Ossa like a wart ! Nay, an thou 'It mouth, 
I '11 rant as well as thou. Shaks. Hamlet. 



PERPLEXITY, IRRESOLUTION, ANXIETY. 

These emotions collect the body together as if for 
thoughtful consideration ; the eye-brows are con- 
tracted, the head hanging on the breast, the eyes 
cast downwards, the mouth shut, the lips pursed to- 
gether. Suddenly the whole body alters its aspect, 
as having discovered something, then falls into con- 
templation as before : the motions of the body are 
restless and unequal, sometimes moving quick, and 
sometimes slow ; the pauses in speaking are long, the 
tone of the voce uneven, the sentences broken and 
unfinished. 



ELOCUTION. 3%5 



Perplexity from Temptation to Evil. 

From thee j even from thy virtue, — 
What 's this ? what 's this? is this her fault or mine ? 
The tempter or the tempted, who sins most ? 
Not she -, nor doth she tempt ; but it is I, 
That, lying by the violet in the sun, 
Do as the carrion does, not as the flower, 
Corrupt with virtuous season. Can it be, 
That modesty may more betray our sense 
Than woman's lightness ? Having waste ground enough, 
Shall we desire to raise the sanctuary, 
And pitch our evils there ? Oh fie, fie, fie ! 
What dost thou ? or what art thou, Angelo ? 
Dost thou desire her foully for those things 
That make her good ? O let her brother live ; 
Thieves for their robbery have authority, 
When judges steal themselves. What ! do I love her, 
That I desire to hear her speak again, 
And feast upon her eyes ? What is 't I dream on ? 
Oh cunning enemy, that to catch a saint 
With saints do'st bait thy hook ! most dangerous 
Is that temptation that doth goad us on 
To sin in loving virtue. Shaks. Meas.for Meets, 



Perplexity from unexpected Events. 

Heaven for his mercy ! what a tide of woes 
Comes rushing on this woeful land at once ! 
I know not what to do : — I would to heav'n 
(So my untruth hath not provok'd him to it) 
The king had cut ofFmy head with my brother's.— 
What, are there posts dispatch'd for Ireland ? 
How shall we do for money for these wars ? — 
Come, sister, — cousin, I would say ; pray pardon me. 
Go, fellow, get thee home, provide some carts, 
And bring away the armour that is there. — 
Gentlemen, will you go to muster men ? If I know, 
How, or which way, to order these affairs, 
Thus disorderly thrust into my hands, 
Never believe me. Both are my kinsmen : 
The one 's my sovereign, whom both my oath 
And duty bids defend $ the other again 
Is my kinsman, whom the king has wrong'd 5 
Whom conscience and my kindred bids to right. 
Well, somewhat we must do — Come, cousin, I '11 
Dispose of you : go muster up your men, 
And meet me presently at Berkley : Gentlemen, 



326 ELEMENTS OF 

I should to Plashy too : — 
« But time will not permit : — All is uneven, 

And every thing is left at six and seven. Shaks. Rich. II. 

Perplexity, how to act on sudden Surprise. 

Yes j — 'tis iEmilia : — by and by. — She 's dead. 
'Tis like she comes to speak of Cassio's death j 
The noise was high. — Ha ! no more moving ? 
Still as the grave. — Shall she come in, wer't good ? 
I think she stirs again : — No. — What 's the best ? 
If she come in she '11 sure speak to my wife. 

Ibid, Othello. 



VEXATION. 

Vexation, besides expressing itself with the looks, 
gestures, tone, and restlessness of perplexity, adds to 
these, complaint, fretting, and remorse. 

Vexation at neglecting one's Duty. 

O what a rogue and peasant slave am 1 ! 
Is it not monstrous, that this player here, 
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, 
Could force his soul so to his own conceit, 
That from her working, all his visage warm'd, 
Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect, 
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting 
With forms to his conceit ! and all for nothing ° 3 
For Hecuba ! 

What 's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, 
That he should weep for her ? Ibid. Hamlet. 



PEEVISHNESS. 

Peevishness is an habitual proneness to anger on 
every slight occasion, and may be called a lower 
degree of anger : it expresses itself therefore, like 
anger, but more moderately, with half sentences and 
broken speeches uttered nastily. The upper lip is 
disdainfully drawn up, and the eyes are cast obliquely 
upon the object of displeasure. 



ELOCUTION. 327 

Troi. What art thou angry, Pandarus ? What with me ! 

Pan. Because she's akin to me , therefore, she's not so fair as 
Helen ; an she were not kin to me, she would be as fair on Friday 
as Helen is on Sunday, But what care I ? I care not an she were 
a blackamoor, 'tis all one to me. 

Troi. Say I she is not fair ? 

Pan. I do not care whether you do or no. She's a fool to stay 
behind her father : let her to the Greeks — and so I '11 tell her the 
next time 1 see her — for my part, 1 11 meddle nor make no more 
i'th' matter. 

Troi. Pandarus — 

Pan. Not I. 

Troi. Pray you speak no more to me — I will leave all as I found 
it — and there's an end. Shaks. Troil. and Cres. 



ENVY. 

Envy is a mixture of joy, sorrow, and hatred : it 
is a sorrow arising from the happiness of others en- 
joying a good which we desire, and think we deserve; 
or a pleasure we receive upon their losing this good, 
for which we hated them. It is nearly akin to 
malice, but much more moderate in its tones and 
gestures. 



Aside the devil turn'd, 



For envy j yet, with jealous leer malign, 

Ey'd them askance, and to himself thus plain'd. 

Sight hateful, sight tormenting ! thus these two, 
Imparadis'd in one another's arms, 
The happier Eden, shall enjoy their fill 
Of bliss on bliss : while I to hell am thrust, 
Where neither joy nor love, but fierce desire, 
Among our other torments not the least 
Still unfulfill'd with pain of longing pines. 

Milton's Parad. Lost. Book iv. v. 502. 



MALICE. 

Malice is an habitual malevolence long conti- 
nued, and watching occasion to exert itself on the 
hated object. This hateful disposition sets the jaws 
or gnashes the teeth, sends blasting flashes from the 



328 ELEMENTS OF 

eyes, stretches the mouth horizontally, clinches 
both the fists, and bends the elbows in a straining 
manner to the body. The tone of voice and expres- 
sion are much the same as in anger, but not so 
loud. 

How like a fawning publican he looks ! 

I hate him, for he is a Christian ; 

But more for that, in low simplicity, 

He lends out money gratis, and brings down 

The rate of usance here with us in Venice. 

If I can catch him once upon the hip, 

I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. 

He hates our sacred nation, and he rails 

E'en there where merchants most do congregate, 

On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift, 

Which he calls interest. Cursed be my tribe 

If I forgive him. Shaks. Mer. of Fen. 



SUSPICION, JEALOUSY. 

Fear of another's endeavouring to prevent our 
attainment of the good desired, raises our suspicion ; 
and suspicion of his having obtained, or of being 
likely to obtain it, raises or constitutes jealousy. 
Jealousy between the sexes is a ferment of love, 
hatred, hope, fear, shame, anxiety, grief, pity, envy, 
pride, rage, cruelty, vengeance, madness, and every 
other tormenting passion which can agitate the 
human mind. Therefore, to express jealousy well, 
one ought to know how to represent justly all these 
passions by turns, and often several of them together. 
Jealousy shows itself by restlessness, peevishness, 
thoughtfulness, anxiety, and absence of mind. Some- 
times it bursts out into piteous complaint, and weep- 
ing ; then a gleam of hope, that all is yet well, lights 
up the countenance into a momentary smile. Imme- 
diately the face, clouded with a general gloom, shows 
the mind overcast again with horrid suspicions and 
frightful imaginations. Thus the jealous man is a 
prey to the most tormenting feelings, and is alter- 
nately tantalised by hope, and plunged into despair. 



ELOCUTION. 329 

Shakspeare, as if unable to express these feelings, 
makes Othello cry out, 

But oh ! what damned minutes tells he o'er, 
Who doats yet doubts, suspects yet strongly loves ! 

Surprise in Jealousy commencing, 

Think, my lord !-~Oh heav'n, he echoes me! 
As if there were some monster in his thought 
Too hideous to be shown. — Thou dost mean something ; 
1 heard they say but now — thou lik'dst not that, 
When Cassio left my wife — What didst not like ? 
And when I told thee he was of my counsel 
In my whole course of wooing, thou cry'dst, indeed! 
And didst contract and purse thy brow together, 
As if thou hadst shut up within thy brain, 
Some horrible conceit: if thou do'st love me, 
Show me thy thought. Shales. Othello, 

Suspicion and Jealousy commencing. 

Leo. Too hot, too hot: 
To mingle friendship far, is mingling bloods, 
I have a tremor cordis on me : — my heart dances ; 
But not for joy, — not joy. — This entertainment 
May a free face put on ; derive a liberty 
From a heartiness, from bounty, fertile bosom, 
And well become the agent : it may, I grant 5 
But to be padling palms, and pincing fingers, 
As now they are ; and making practis'd smiles, 
As in a looking-glass ; and then to sigh as 'twere 
The nort o'the deer ; oh that is entertainment 
My bosom likes not, nor my brows 5 

Mamilius 

Art thou my boy? — Ibid. Winter s Tale, 

Jealousy increasing. 

Go to, go to. 
How she holds up the neb, the bill to him, 
And arms her with the boldness of a wife 
To her allowing husband ! Gone already ; 
Inch thick, knee deep, o'er head and ears a fork'd one. — 
Go, play, boy, play ; — thy mother plays, and I 
Play to, but so disgrae'd a part, whose issue 
Will hiss me to my grave : contempt and clamour 
Will be my kneli.— Go, play, boy, play. — 



330 ELEMENTS OF 

There have been, 

Or I am much deceiv'd, cuckolds ere now ; 

And many a man there is, even at this present, 

Now while I speak this, holds his wife by the arm, 

That little thinks she hath been false in his absence. 

Sliaks. Winter's Tale. 

Attempt to hide Jealousy. 

Her. Are you mov'd, my lord ? 

Leo. No, in good earnest. — 
How sometimes nature will betray its folly, 
Its tenderness ; and make itself a pastime 
To harder bosoms ! Looking on the lines 
Of my boy's face, methought, I did recoil 
Twenty-three years ; and saw myself unbreeeh'd, 
In my green velvet coat : my dagger muzzled, 
Lest it should bite its master, and so prove, 
As ornament oft does, too dangerous. — 
How like, methought, I then was to this kernel, 
This squash, this gentleman :— mine honest friend, 
Will you take eggs for money ? Ibidem, 



Jealousy confirmed. 

Dost think I am so muddy, so unsettled, 
To appoint myself in this vexation, sully 
The purity and whiteness of my bed 
Which to preserve is sleep ; which being spotted 
Is goads, thorns, nettles, tails of wasps ? 
Give scandal to the blood o' th' prince my son, 
Who I do think is mine, and love as mine, 
Without ripe moving to 't ? Would I do this ? 
Could man so blench ? Ibidem. 



Jealousy mixed with Grief. 

How blest am I 
In my just censure ! in my true opinion ! — 
Alack for lesser knowledge ! — how accurs'd 
In being so bless'd ! There may be in the cup 
A spider steep'd, and may drink, depart, 
And yet partake no venom, for his knowledge 
Is not infected j but if one present 
The abhorr'd ingredient to his eye, make known 
How he hath drunk, he cracks his gorge, his sides, 
With violent hefts. — 1 have drunk, and seen the spider! 

Ibidem. 



ELOCUTION. 



Jealousy mixed with Rage and Regret. 



331 



This fellow's of exceeding honesty, 
And knows all qualities with a learned spirit 
Of human dealings : if I do prove her haggard, 
Though that her jesses were my dear heart-strings, 
I 'd whistle her off and let her down the wind 
To prey at fortune. Haply, for I am black, 
And have not those soft parts of conversation 
That chambers have, or for I am declin'd 
Into the vale of years — yet that 's not much j — 
She's gone, I am abus'd, and my relief 
Must be — to loath her. Oh the curse of marriage, 
That we can call these delicate creatures ours 
And not their appetites ! Shaks. Othello. 



MODESTY, SUBMISSION. 

Modesty is a diffidence of ourselves, accompanied 
with a delicacy in our sense of whatever is mean, 
indecent, or dishonourable ; or a fear of doing these 
things, or of having them imputed to us. Submission 
is an humble sense of our inferiority, and a quiet sur- 
render of our powers to a superior. Modesty bends 
the body forward, has a placid, downcast counte- 
nance, levels the eyes to the breast, if not to the 
feet of the superior character: the voice is low, the 
tone submissive, and the words few. Submission 
adds to these a lower bending of the head, and a 
spreading of the arms and hands downwards towards 
the person we submit to. 

Modesty on being appointed to a high station. 

Now, good my lord, 
Let there be some more test made of my metal, 
Before so noble, and so great a figure, 
Be stamp'd upon it. Shaks. Meas. for Meas. 

Submission on Forgiveness of Crime. 

O noble sir ! 
Your over-kindness doth wring tears from me : 



33% ELEMENTS OF 

I do embrace your offer ; and dispose 

From henceforth of poor CI audio. Shahs. Much Ado, be. 



SHAME. 

Shame, or a sense of appearing to a disadvantage 
before one's own fellow-creatures, turns away the 
face from the beholders, covers it w T ith blushes, hangs 
the head, casts down the eyes, draws down and con- 
tracts the eye-brows. It either strikes the person 
dumb, or, if he attempts to say any thing in his own 
defence, causes his tongue to falter, confounds his 
utterance, and puts him upon making a thousand 
gestures and grimaces to keep himself in coun- 
tenance ; all which only heighten his confusion and 
embarrassment. 

Shame at being convicted of a Crime. 

Oh my dread lord — 
I should be guiltier than my guiltiness, 
To think 1 can be undiscernible, 
When 1 perceive your grace, like power divine, 
Hath look'd upon my passes ; then, good prince, 
No longer session hold upon my shame, 
But let my trial be mine own confession : 
Immediate sentence then, and sequent death, 
Is all the grace I beg. Ibid. Meas. for Meas. 



GRAVITY. 

Gravity or seriousness, as when the mind is fixed, 
or deliberating on some important subject, smooths 
the countenance, and gives it an air of melancholy ; 
the eye-brows are lowered, the eyes cast downwards, 
the mouth almost shut, and sometimes a little con- 
tracted. The posture of the body and limbs is com- 
posed, and without much motion ; the speech slow 
and solemn, the tone without much variety. 



ELOCUTION. 333 



Grave Deliberation on War and Peace. 

Fathers, we once again are met in council -, 
Caesar's approach has suraraon'd us together, 
And Rome attends her fate from our resolves. 
How shall we treat this bold aspiring man ? 
Success still follows him, and backs his crimes. 
Pharsalia gave him Rome : iEgypt has since 
Receiv'd his yoke, and the whole Nile is Caesar's. 
Why should I mention Juba's overthrow, 
Or Scipio's death ? Numidia's burning sands 
Still smoke with blood ; Tis time we should decree 
What course to take ; our foe advances on us, 
And envies us even Libya's sultry deserts. 
Fathers, pronounce your thoughts j are they still fix'd 
To hold it out, and fight it to the last ? 
Or are your hearts subdu'd at length, and wrought, 
By time and ill success, to a submission } 
Sempronius, speak. Addison's Cato. 



INQUIRY. 

Inquiry Into some difficult subject, fixes the body 
nearly in one posture, the head somewhat stooping, 
the eyes poring, and the eye-brows contracted. 

Inquiry mixed with Suspicion. 

Pray you once more — 
Is not your father grown incapable 
Of reas'nable affairs ? is he not stupid 
With age and altering rheums ? Can he speak, hear, 
Know man from man, dispute his own estate ? 
Lies he not bed-rid, and again does nothing 
But what he did being childish ? Shaks. Winters Tale. 



ATTENTION. 

Attention to an esteemed or superior character has 
nearly the same aspect as Inquiry, and requires 
silence ; the eyes often cast down upon the ground ; 
sometimes fixed upon the face of the speaker, but 
not too familiarly. 



334 ELEMENTS OF 



TEACHING OR INSTRUCTING. 

Teaching, explaining, or inculcating, requires a 
mild serene air, sometimes approaching to an autho- 
ritative gravity ; the features and gesture altering 
according to the age or dignity of the pupil, and 
importance of the subject inculcated. To youth it 
should be mild, open, serene, and condescending; to 
equals and superiors, modest and diffident: but when 
the subject is of great dignity or importance, the air 
and manner of conveying the instruction ought to be 
firm and emphatical, the eye steady and open, the 
eye-brow a little drawn down over it, but not so much 
as to look surly or dogmatical ; the pitch of voice 
ought to be strong; steady, and clear, the articula- 
tion distinct, the utterance slow, and the manner 
approaching to confidence. 

Instruction to modest Youth. 

Pol. Wherefore, gentle maiden, 
Do you neglect your gilly-tiowers and carnations ? 

Per. 1 have heard it said, 
There is an art which in their piedness shares 
With great creating nature. 

Pol. Say there be, 
Yet nature is made better by no mean, 
But nature makes that mean \ so over that art 
Which you say adds to nature, is an art 
Which nature makes j you see, sweet maid, we marry 
A gentler scyon to the wildest stock ; 
And make conceive a bark of baser kind 
By bud of nobler race. This is an art 
Which does mend nature, change it rather ; but 
The art itself is nature- Shaks. Winters Tale. 



Instruction to an Inferior. 

Angelo — 
There is a kind of character in thy life, 
That, to the observer, doth thy history 
Fully unfold : Thyself and thy belongings 
Are not thine own so proper, as to waste 



ELOCUTION. 335 

Thyself upon thy virtues, them on thee. 

Heav'n doth with us, as we with torches do ; 

Not light them for themselves : for if our virtues 

Did not go forch of us, 'twere all as if 

We had them not. Spirits are not finely touch'd 

But to fine issues : nature never lends 

The smallest scruple of her excellence j 

But Jike a thrifty goddess she determines 

Herself the glory of a creditor, 

Both thanks and use. But 1 do bend my speech 

To one that can in my part me advertise. 

Hold therefore, Angelo — 

In our remove be thou at full ourself. 

Mortality and mercy in Vienna 

Live in thy tongue and heart : Old Escalus, 

Though first in question, is thy secondary: 

Take thy commission. Shaks. Meets, for Meas. 



ARGUING. 

Arguing requires a cool, sedate, attentive aspect, 
and a clear, slow, and emphatical accent, with much 
demonstration by the hand ; it assumes somewhat of 
authority, as if fully convinced of the truth of what 
it pleads for, and sometimes rises to great vehemence 
and energy of assertion ; the voice clear, bold, dis- 
tinct, and firm, as in confidence. 



Reasoning with deference to others. 

Ay, but yet 
Let us be keen, and rather cut a little, 
Than fall and bruise to death. Alas ! this gentleman 
Whom I would save, had a most noble father ! 
Let but your honour know, whom I believe 
To be most strait in virtue, whether, ?.n 
The working of your own affections, 
Had time coher'd with place, or place with wishing, 
Or that the resolute acting of your blood 
Could have attain'd th' effect of your own purpose, 
Whether you had not some time in your life 
Err'd in this point you censure now in him, 
And pull'd the law upon you. Ibid. 



336 ELEMENTS OF 



Reasoning warmly. 

By my white beard, 
You offer him, if this be so, a wrong, 
Something unfilial : Reason, my son 
Should choose himself a wife ; but as good reason, 
The father (all whose joy is nothing else 
But fair posterity) should hold some counsel 
In such a business. Skaks. Winter* Tale. 

Argument asserting right to Property. 

As I was banish'd, I was banish'd Hereford > 
But as I come, 1 come for Lancaster : 
And, noble uncle, I beseech your grace, 
Look on my wrongs with an indifferent eye : 
You are my father, for, methinks, in you 
I see old Gaunt alive ; O, then, my father, 
Will you permit that I should stand condemn'd 
A wand'ring vagabond ; my rights and loyalties 
Pluck'd from my arms perforce, and given away 
To upstart unthrifts ? Wherefore was I born ? 
If that my cousin king be king of England, 
It must be granted, I am duke of Lancaster. 
You have a son, Aumerle, my noble kinsman ; 
Had you first dy'd, and he been thus trod down, 
He should have found his uncle Gaunt a father, 
To rouse his wrongs, and chase them to the bay. 
I am deny'd t o sue my livery here, 
And yet my letters-patents give me leave : 
My father's goods ars all distrain'd and sold ; 
And these, and all, are all amiss employ'd. 
What would you have me do ? I am a subject. 
And challenge law : Attorneys are deny'd me ; 
And therefore personally lay my claim 
To my inheritance of free descent. Ibid. Rich. II. 



ADMONITION. 

Admonition assumes a grave air, bordering on 
seventy; the head is sometimes shaken at the person 
we admonish, as if we felt for the miseries he was 
likely to bring upon himself, the right hand is directed 
to the person spoken to, and the fore-finger, project- 
ed from the rest, seems to point out more particularly 



ELOCUTION. 337 

the danger we give warning of; the voice assumes a 
low tone, bordering on a monotone, with a mixture 
of severity and sympathy, of pity and reproach. 

Admonition to execute Laws strictly. 

Tis one thing to be tempted, Escalus, 
Another thing to fall. I not deny, 
The jury passing on the prisoner's life, 
May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two, 
Guiltier than him they try j what 's open made 
To justice, that it seizes on. What know 
The laws, that thieves do pass on thieves ? 'tis pregnant, 
The jewel that we find, we stoop and take 't, 
Because we see it ; but what do we not see, 
We tread upon, and never think of it. 
You may not so extenuate his offence, 
For I have had such faults j but rather tell me 
When I, that censure him, do so offend j 
Let mine own judgment pattern out my death, 
And nothing come in partial. He must die. 

Shakspeares Meets. for Meas, 

Admonition to beware of Complaisance in Friendship. 

Ever note, Lucilius, 
When love begins to sicken and decay, 
It useth an enforced ceremony. 
There are no tricks in plain and simple faith : 
But hollow men, like horses hot at hand, 
Make gallant show, and promise of their mettle ; 
But when they should endure the bloody spur, 
They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades, 
Sink in the trial. Comes his army on ? Ibid. Julius Caesar. 



Admonition to act justly. 

Remember March, the ides of March remember ! 
Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake ? 
What villain touch'd his body, that did stab, 
And not for justice ? What ! shall one of us, 
That struck the foremost man of all this world, 
But for supporting robbers ; shall we now 
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes j 
And sell the mighty space of our large honours, 
For so much trash as may.be grasped thus > — 
z 



338 ELEMENTS OF 

I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon, 

Than such a Roman. Shaksp. Jul. Cas. 



AUTHORITY. 

Authority opens the countenance, but draws down 
the eye-brows a little, so as to give the look an air of 
gravity. 

Authority forbidding Combatants to fight. 

Let them lay by their helmets and their spears, 
And both return back to their chairs again : — 
Withdraw with us, and let the trumpets sound 
While we return these dukes what we decree. 

Draw near 

And list what with our council we have done. 

For that our kingdom's earth should not be soil'd 

With that dear blood which it hath fostered -, 

And for our eyes doth hate the dire aspect 

Of civil wounds plough'd up with neighbours' swords ; 

Therefore we banish you our territories : 

You, cousin Hereford, upon pain of death, 

Till twice five summers have enrich'd our fields, 

Shall not regreet our fair dominions, 

But tread the stranger-paths of banishment. Ibid. Rich. II. 



COMMANDING. 

Commanding requires an air a little more peremp- 
tory, with a look a little severe, or stern. The hand 
is held out, and moved towards the person to whom 
the order is given, with the palm upwards, and some- 
times it is accompanied by a nod of the head to the 
person commanded. If the command be absolute, 
and to a person unwilling to obey, the right hand is 
extended, and projected forcibly towards the person 
commanded. 

Commanding Combatants to fight. 

We were not born to sue, but to command ; 
Which since we cannot do to make you friends, 



ELOCUTION. S39 

Be ready, as your lives shall answer it, 

At Coventry, upon St. Lambert's day j 

There shall your swords and lances arbitrate 

The swelling difference of your settled hate. 

Since we cannot atone you, you shall see 

Justice decide the victor's chivalry. 

Lord marshal, command our officers at arms 

Be ready to direct these home-alarms. Shaksp. Rich, II. 



FORBIDDING. 

Forbidding draws the head backwards, and pushes 
the arm and hand forwards, with the palm downwards, 
as if going to lay it upon the person, and hold him 
down immoveable, that he may not do what is for- 
bidden him ; the countenance has the air of aversion, 
the voice is harsh, and the manner peremptory. 

Forbidding to break Orders. 

On pain of death no person be so bold 
Or daring-hardy as to touch the lists, 
Except the marshal, and such officers 
Appointed to direct these fair designs. Ibidem. 



AFFIRMING. 

Affirming, with a judicial oath, is expressed by 
lifting the right hand and eyes towards heaven; or, if 
conscience is appealed to, by laying the right hand 
open upon the breast exactly upon the heart ; the 
voice low and solemn, the words slow and deliberate; 
but when the affirmation is mixed with rage or re- 
sentment, the voice is more open and loud, the words 
quicker, and the countenance has all the confidence 
of strong and peremptory assertion. 

Affirming an Accusation. 

My lord Aumerle, I know your daring tongue j 
Scorns to unsay what once it hath delivered : 
In that dread time when Gloster's death was plot, 
I heard you say, — " Is not my arm of length 
z 2 



340 ELEMENTS OF 

" That reacheth from the restful English court, 
" As far as Calais, to my uncle's head ?" 
Among much other talk, that very time 
I heard you say, you rather had refuse 
The offer of an hundred thousand crowns, 
„ Than Bolingbroke return to England : 

Adding withal, how blest this land would be, 
In this your cousin's death. 
If that thy valour stand on sympathies, 
There is my gage, Aumerle, in gage to thine. 
I heard thee say, and vauntingly thou spak'st it, 
That thou wert cause of noble Gloster's death : 
If thou deny'st it twenty times, thou liest ; 
And I will turn thy falsehood to thy heart, 
Where it was forged, with my rapier's point. 

Shaksp. Rich* II. 

DENYING. 

Denying what is affirmed is but an affirmation of 
the contrary, and is expressed like affirmation. De- 
nying a favour. See Refusing. 

Denying an Accusation. 

If I in act, consent, or sin of thought, 
Be guilty of the stealing that sweet breath 
Which was embounded in that beauteous clay, 
Let hell want pains enough to torture me ! — 
I left him well. Ibid. King John. 

DIFFERING. 

Differing in sentiment may be expressed nearly as 
refusing. See Refusing. 

Differing about the Conduct of a War. 

Bru. Well, to our work alive. What do you think 
Of marching to Philippi presently ? 

Cas. I do not think it good. 

Bru. Your reason? 

Cas. This it is : 
'Tis better that the enemy seek us, 
So shall we waste his means, weary his soldiers, 
Doing himself offence ; whilst we, lying still, 
Are full of rest, defence, and nimbleness. 



ELOCUTION. 341 

Bru. Good reasons must of force give place to better. 
The people 'twixt Philippi and this ground, 
Do stand but in a fore'd affection ; 
For they have grudg'd us contribution. 
The enemy marching along by them, 
By them shall make a fuller number up, 
Come on refresh'd, new added, and encouraged > 
From -which advantage shall we cut him off, 
If at Philippi we do face him there, 
These people at our backs. 

Cas. Hear me, good brother — 

Bru. Under your pardon. — You must note beside, 
That we have tried the utmost of our friends, 
Our legions are brimful], our cause is ripe ; 
The enemy increaseth every day, 
We, at the height, are ready to decline. 
There is a tide in the affairs of men, 
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ; 
Omitted, all the voyage of their life 
Is bound in shallows and in miseries. 
On such a full sea are we now afloat j 
And we must take the current when it serves, 
Or lose our ventures. Shaksp. Jul. Cces. 

AGREEING. 

Agreeing in opinion, or being convinced, is ex- 
pressed nearly as granting. See Granting. 

Agreeing in an Enterprise. 

Post. I embrace these conditions ; let us have articles betwixt us j 
only thus far you shall answer: if you make your addresses to her, 
and give me directly to understand you have prevailed, I am no far- 
ther your enemy, she is not worth our debate. If she remain unse- 
duced, you not making it appear otherwise] for your ill opinion, and 
the assault you have made to her chastity, you shall answer me with 
your sword. 

Jac. Your hand, a covenant ; we will have these things set down 
by lawful counsel, and straightway for Britain, lest the bargain 
should catch cold and starve. I will fetch my gold, and have our 
two wagers recorded. Ibid. Cymbeline. 

JUDGING. 

Judging demands a grave steady look, with deep 
attention, the countenance altogether clear from any 



34£ ELEMENTS OF 

appearance, either of disgust or favour. The pro- 
nunciation slow, distinct, and emphatical, accompa- 
nied with little action, and that very grave. 



Judging according to strict Law. 

Her. I beseech your grace that I may know 
The worst that may befall me in this case, 
If I refuse to wed Demetrius. 

Thes. Either to die the death, or to abjure 
For ever the society of men. 
Therefore, fair Hermia, question your desires ; 
Know of your youth, examine well your blood, 
Whether, not yielding to your father's choice, 
You can endure the livery of a nun, 
For aye to be in shady cloister mew'd, 
To live a barren sister all your life, 
Chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon. 
Thrice-blessed they that master so their blood, 
To undergo such maiden pilgrimage ! 
But earthlier-happy is the rose distill'd, 
Than that which, withering on the virgin thorn. 
Grows, lives, and dies, in single blessedness. 

Her. So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord, 
Ere I will yield up my virginity 
Unto his lordship, to whose unwish'd yoke 
My soul consents not to give sovereignty. 

Thes. Take time to pause, and by the next new moon, 
(The sealing-day betwixt my love and me, 
For everlasting bond of fellowship,) 
Upon that day either prepare to die 
For disobedience to your father's will, 
Or else to wed Demetrius, as he would, 
Or on Diana's altar to protest 
For aye austerity and single life. 

Shaks. Mids. Night's Dream 



REPROVING. 

Reproving puts on a stern aspect* roughens the 
voice, and is accompanied with gestures not much 
different from those of threatening, but not so lively. 
It is like Reproach, but without the sourness and ill- 
nature. See Reproach, 



ELOCUTION. 343 



Reproving with Authority. 

How comes it, Cassio, you are thus forgot, 
That you unlace your reputation thus, 
And spend your rich opinion for the name 
Of a night-brawler? Give me answer to it ? Shaks. Othello. 



ACQUITTING. 

Acquitting is performed with a benevolent tranquil 
countenance, and mild tone of voice ; the right hand 
is open, and waved gently towards the person ac- 
quitted, expressing dismission. See Dismissing. 



CONDEMNING. 

Condemning assumes a severe look, but sometimes 
mixed with pity. The sentence is expressed either 
with severity or pity, according to the guilt of the 
person condemned. 

Passing Sentence with Severity. 

For this new marry'd man, approaching here, 
Whose salt imagination yet hath wrong'd 
Your well-defended honour 5 you must pardon him 
For Mariana's sake j but as a judge, 
Being doubly criminal, in violation 
Of sacred chastity, and in promise-breach, 
Thereon dependent for your brother's life, 
The very mercy of the law cries out 
Most audible, even from his proper tongue, 
An Angelo for Claudio j death for death. 
Haste still pays haste, and leisure answers leisure ; 
Like doth quit like, and measure still for measure. 
Then, Angelo, thy faults are manifest ; 
Which, tho' thou wouldst deny 'em, deny thee 'vantage. 
We do condemn thee to the very block 
Where Claudio stoop'd to death, and with like haste. 
Away with him. Ibid. Meas. for Meas. 



3M ELEMENTS OF 



Passing Sentence with Pity and Reluctance. 

God quit you in his mercy ! Hear your sentence : 
You have conspir'd against our royal person, 
Join'd with an enemy, and from his coffers 
Receiv'd the golden earnest of our death ; 
Wherein you would have sold your king to slaughter, 
His princes and his peers to servitude, 
His subjects to oppression and contempt, 
And his whole kingdom unto desolation. 
Touching our person, seek we no revenge ; 
But we our kingdom's safety must so tender, 
Whose ruin you three sought, that to her laws 
We do deliver you. Go therefore hence, 
Poor miserable wretches, to your death ; 
The taste whereof God of his mercy give 
You patience to endure, and true repentance 
Of all your dire offences. Bear them hence. Shaksp. Hen. V. 



PARDONING. 

Pardoning differs from acquitting in this : the latter 
means clearing a person after trial of guilt ; whereas 
the former supposes guilt, and signifies merely deliver- 
ing the guilty person from punishment. Pardoning 
requires some degree of severity of aspect and tone of 
voice, because the pardoned person is not an object of 
entire unmixed approbation. 

Pardoning a cruel Prosecution. 

That thou may'st see the difference of our spirits^ 
I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it : 
For half thy wealth, it is Antonio's; 
The other half comes to the general state, 
Which humbleness may drive into a fine. Ibid. Mer. of Ven. 



DISMISSING. 

Dismissing with approbation is done with a kind 
aspect and tone of voice \ the right hand open, the 



ELOCUTION. 345 

palm upwards, gently waved towards the person. 
Dismissing with displeasure, besides the look and 
tone of voice which suits displeasure, the hand is 
hastily thrown out towards the person dismissed, the 
back part of the hand towards him, and the counte- 
nance at the same time turned away from him. 

Dismissing with Complaisance. 

Chat. Then take my king's defiance from my mouth* 
The farthest limit of my embassy. 

K. John. Bear mine to him, and so depart in peace : 
Be thou as lightning in the eyes of France, 
For ere thou can'st report I will be there, 
The thunder of my cannon shall be heard ; 
So hence [ Be thou the trumpet of our wrath, 
And sullen presage of your own decay. — 
An honourable conduct let him have ; 
Pembroke, look to 't : — farewell, Chatillon. Shak. King John. 



REFUSING. 

Refusing, when accompanied with displeasure, is 
done nearly in the same way as dismissing with dis- 
pleasure. Without displeasure, it is done with a 
visible reluctance, which occasions bringing out the 
words slowly, with such a shake of the head and shrug 
of the shoulders, and hesitation in the speech, as im- 
plies perplexity between granting and refusing, as in 
the following example : 



Refusing to lend Money. 

They answer in a joint and corporate voice, 
That now they are at fall, want treasure, cannot 
Do what they would ; are sorry — you are honourable— 
But yet they could have wish'd — they know not — 
Something hath been amiss—a noble nature 
May catch a wrench — wou'd all were well — 'tis pityj 
And so intending other serious matters, 
After distasteful looks, and these hard fractions 



346 ELEMENTS OF 

With certain half-caps, and cold-moving nods, 

They froze me into silence, Shakspeares Timon of Athens. 



Refusing with Displeasure. 

Met. Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Caesar, 
Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat 
An humble heart. 

C'ces. I must prevent thee, Cimber ; 
These crouchings, and these lowly courtesies, 
Might fire the blood of ordinary men, 
And turn pre-ordi nance, and first decree, 
Into the lane of children. Be not fond, 
To think that Caesar bears such rebel blood, 
That will be thaw'd from the true quality 
With that which melteth fools ; 1 mean sweet words, 
Low-crooked curt'sies, and base spaniel-fawning. 
Thy brother by decree is banished ; 
If thou dost bend, and pray, and fawn for him, 
I spurn thee like a cur out of my way. 
Know, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause 
Will he be satisfied. Shakspeares Jul. Cccs. 



GIVING, GRANTING, 

When done with unreserved good-will, is accompanied 
with a benevolent aspect, and tone of voice; the right 
hand open with the palm upwards, extending towards 
the person we favour, as if delivering to him what he 
asks ; the head at the same time inclining forwards, as 
indicating a benevolent disposition and entire consent. 

Giving a Daughter in Marriage. 

Pros. If I have too severely punish'd you, 
Your compensation makes amends ; for I 
Have given you here a thread of mine own life, 
Or that for which I live, whom once again 
I tender to thy hand : all thy vexations • 

Were but my trials of thy love, and thou 
Hast strangely stood the test. Here afore heav'n 
I ratify this my rich gift : Ferdinand, 



ELOCUTION. 547 

Do not smile at me that I boast her off; 
For thou wilt find she will outstrip all praise, 
And make it halt behind her. 

Fer. 1 believe it 
Against an oracle. 

Pros. Then as my gift, and thine own acquisition 
Worthily purchas'd, take my daughter. Shaks, Tempest. 



GRATITUDE. 

Gratitude puts on an aspect full. of complacency. 
If the object of it be a character greatly superior, it 
expresses much submission. The right hand open 
with the fingers spread, and pressed upon the breast 
just over the heart, expresses very properly a sincere 
and hearty sensibility of obligation. 

Gratitude for great Benefits. 

O great Sciolto ! O my more than father ! 
Let me not live, but at thy very name 
My eager heart springs up and leaps with joy. 
When I forget the vast, vast debt I owe thee — 
(Forget — but 'tis impossible) then let rhe 
Forget the use and privilege of reason, 
Be banish'd from the commerce of mankind, 
To wander in the desert among brutes, 
To bear the various fury of the seasons, 
The midnight cold, and noontide scorching heat, 
To be the scorn of earth, and curse of heaven. 

Rowe's Fair Penitent . 



CURIOSITY. 

Curiosity opens the eyes and mouth, lengthens the 
neck, bends the body forwards, and fixes it in one 
posture, nearly as in admiration. When it speaks, 
the voice, tone, and gesture, nearly as Inquiry. See 
Inquiry. 



34,8 ELEMENTS OF 



Curiosity at first seeing a fine Object. 

Pros. The fringed curtains of thine eye advance, 
And say what thou seest yond. 

Mir. What is 't ? a spirit ? 
Lo how it looks about ! believe me, sir, 
It carries a brave form. But 'tis a spirit. 

Pros. No, wench, it eats and sleeps, and hath such senses 
As we have, such. 

Mir, 1 might call him 
A thing divine, for nothing natural 
I ever saw so noble. Shaks. Tempest. 



PROMISING. 

Promising is expressed by benevolent looks, a soft 
but earnest voice, and sometimes by inclining the 
head and hands open, with the palms upwards, to- 
wards the person to whom the promise is made. 
Sincerity in promising is expressed by laying the 
right hand gently on the left breast. 

Promise of prosperous Events, 

I '11 deliver all, 
And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales, 
And sail so expeditious, it shall catch 
Your royal fleet far off. Ibidem. 



VENERATION 

To parents, superiors, or persons of eminent virtue, 
is an humble and respectful acknowledgement of 
their excellence, and our own inferiority. The head 
and body are inclined a little forward, and the hand, 
with the palm downward, just raised as to meet 
the inclination of the body, and then let fall again 
with apparent timidity and diffidence ; the eye is 
sometimes lifted up, and then immediately cast 
downward, as if unworthy to behold the object 



ELOCUTION. 349 

before it ; the eye-brows are drawn down ; the fea- 
tures, and the whole body and limbs, are all com- 
posed to the most profound gravity. When this 
rises to adoration of the Almighty Creator and Di- 
rector of all things, it is too sacred to be imitated, 
and seems to demand that humble annihilation of 
ourselves, which must ever be the consequence of 
a just sense of the Divine Majesty, and our own 
unworthiness. 



RESPECT 

Is but a less degree of Veneration, and is nearly allied 
to Modesty. 



DESIRE 

Expresses itself by bending the body forwards, and 
stretching the arms towards the object, as to grasp it. 
The countenance smiling, but eager and wishful ; the 
eyes wide open, and eye-brows raised ; the mouth 
open ; the tone of voice suppliant, but lively and 
cheerful, unless there be distress as well as desire ; the 
expressions fluent and copious; if no words are used, 
sighs instead of them; but this is chiefly in distress. 



COMMENDATION. 

Commendation is the expression of the appro- 
bation we have for any object in which we find 
any congruity to our ideas of excellence, natural or 
moral, so as to communicate pleasure. As com- 
mendation generally supposes superiority in the per- 
son commending, it assumes the aspect of love (but 
without desire and respect), and expresses itself in 
a mild tone of voice, with a small degree of con- 



350 ELEMENTS. OF 

fidence ; the arms are gently spread, the hands open, 
with the palms upwards, directed towards the person 
approved, and sometimes gently lifted up and down, 
as if pronouncing his praise. 

Commendation for obliging Behaviour. 

You have done our pleasures very much grace, fair ladies; 
Set a fair fashion on our entertainment, 
Which was not half so beautiful and kind j 
You've added worth unto't, and lively lustre, 
And entertain'd me with mine own device : 
I am to thank you for it. Shakspeare's Timon of Athens. 

Commendation for Fidelity. 

O good old man, how well in thee appears 
The constant service of the antique world, 
When service sweat for duty, not for meed ! 
Thou art not for the fashion of these times, 
Where none will sweat but for promotion j 
And, having that, do cloak their service up, 
Even with the having: It is not so with thee. 

Ibid. As You Like It. 



EXHORTING. 

Exhorting or encouraging, is earnest persuasion, 
attended with confidence of success. The voice has 
the softness of love, intermixed with the firmness of 
courage ; the arms are sometimes spread, with the 
hands open, as entreating ; and sometimes the right 
hand is lifted up, and struck rapidly down, as en- 
forcing what we say. 



Exhorting. 

But wherefore do you droop ? Why look you sad ? 
Be great in act, as you have been in thought j 
Let not the world see fear and sad distrust 
Govern the motion of a kingly eye : 
Be stirring as the time ; be fire with fire ; 



ELOCUTION. 

Threaten the threatener, and outface the brow 

Of bragging horror : so shall inferior eyes, 

That borrow their behaviours from the great, 

Grow great by your example 5 and put on 

The dauntless spirit of resolution j 

Show boldness and aspiring confidence. 

What, shall they seek the lion in his den, 

And fright him there, and make him tremble there ! 

Oh let it not be said ! — Forage, and run, 

To meet displeasure farther from the doors, 

And grapple with him ere he come so nigh. 

Shakspeare's King John. 



COMPLAINING. 

Complaining, as when one is under violent bodily 
pain, distorts the features, almost closes the eyes ; 
sometimes rises them wistfully; opens the mouth, 
gnashes the teeth, draws up the upper lip, draws 
down the head upon the breast, and contracts the 
whole body. The arms are violently bent at the 
elbows, and the fists strongly clinched. The voice is 
uttered in groans, lamentations, and sometimes vio- 
lent screams. 

Complaining of extreme Pain. 

Search there ; nay, probe me j search my wounded reins — 
Pull, draw it out — 

Oh, I am shot ! A forked burning arrow 
Sticks across my shoulders : the sad venom flies 
Like lightning through my flesh, my blood, my marrow. 
Ha ! what a change of torments I endure ! 
A bolt of ice runs hissing through my bowels : 
'Tis, sure, the arm of death ; give me a chair j 
Cover me, for I freeze, and my teeth chatter, 
And my knees knock together. Lee's Alexander. 



FATIGUE. 

Fatigue from hard labour gives a general languor 
to the body; the countenance is dejected, the arms 
hang listless; the body if not sitting or lying along, 



352 ELEMENTS OF 

stoops, as in old age; the legs, if walking, are dragged 
heavily along, and seem at every step to bend under 
the weight of the body. The voice is weak, and 
hardly articulate enough to be understood. 



Fatigue from Travelling. 

I see a man's life is a tedious one : 
I 've tir'd myself, and for two nights together 
Have made the ground my bed. I should be sick, 
But that my resolution helps me. Milford, 
When from the mountain top Pisanio showed thee, 
Thou wast within a kem Oh me, I think 
Foundations fly the wretched j such I mean 
Where they should be relieved. Shakspeare*s Cymbeline. 



Feebleness from Hunger. 

Adam. Dear master, I can go no farther : Oh, I die for food ! here 
lie I down and measure out my grave. Farewell, kind master. 

Duke. Welcome: set down your venerable burden, 
And let him feed. 

Orla. I thank you most for him. 

Adam. So had you need ; 
I scarce can speak to thank you for myself. Ibid. As You Like It. 



SICKNESS. 

Sickness has infirmity or feebleness in every mo- 
tion, and utterance; the eyes dim and almost closed, 
the cheeks are pale and hollow, the jaw falls, the 
head hangs down as if too heavy to be supported by 
the neck ; the voice feeble, trembling, and plaintive, 
the head shaking, and the whole body, as it were, 
sinking under the weight that oppresses it. 

Sicktiess approaching to Death. 

And wherefore should this good news make me sick ? 
I should rejoice now at this happy news, 



ELOCUTION. 358 

And now my sight fails, and my brain is giddy : — 

me ! come near me, now I am much ill. 

1 pray you take me up and bear me hence 
Into some other chamber ; softly, pray — 

Let there be no noise made, my gentle friends, 
Unless some dull and favourable hand 
Will whisper music to my weary spirit. 

Shaksp. Henry IF. M Part. 

Trifling as this selection of examples of the pas- 
sions may appear, it is presumed it will be singularly 
useful. The passions are everywhere to be found 
in small portions, promiscuously mingled with each 
other, but not so easily met with in examples of 
length, and where one passion only operates at a 
time : such a selection, however, seemed highly 
proper to facilitate the study of the passions, as it is 
evident that the expression of any passion may be 
sooner gained by confining our practice for a con- 
siderable time to one passion only, than by passing 
abruptly from one to the other, as they promis- 
cuously occur ; which is the case with the author to 
whom I am so much indebted for the description 
of the passions, and with those who have servilely 
copied him. The instances of a single passion which 
I have selected, may be augmented at pleasure ; and 
when the pupil has acquired the expression of each 
passion singly, I would earnestly recommend to him 
to analyse his composition, and carefully to mark it 
with the several passions, emotions, and sentiments 
it contains, by which means he will distinguish and 
separate what is often mixed and confounded, and 
be prompted to force and variety at almost every 
sentence, 

I am well aware, that the passions are sometimes 
so slightly touched, and often melt so insensibly into 
each other, as to make it somewhat difficult precisely 
to mark their boundaries ; but this is no argument 
against our marking them where they are distinct 
and obvious ; nor against our suggesting them to 

2 a 



354 ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION. 

those who may not be quite so clear-sighted as our- 
selves. Indeed, the objection to this practice seems 
entirely founded on these two misconceptions : be- 
cause we cannot perfectly delineate every shade of 
sound or passion, we ought not to attempt any ap- 
proaches to them ; and because good readers and 
speakers have no need of these assistances, therefore, 
they are useless to every one else. But this reasoning, 
I am convinced, is so palpably wrong, as sufficiently 
to establish the contrary opinion, without any other 
argument in its favour. 



THE END. 






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